


An Obedient Machine

by ElijahKamski, naRK800



Series: Mutual Trust [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Cat Lover Gavin Reed, Cat Lover Upgraded Connor | RK900, Christmas, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Deviant Original Chloe | RT600, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Half-Siblings, Gavin Reed Backstory, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, Gay Disaster Gavin Reed, Good Elijah Kamski, M/M, Masochist Gavin Reed, New Jericho (Detroit: Become Human), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pacifist Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Simon (Detroit: Become Human) Backstory, Sub Gavin Reed, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed Friendship, Top Upgraded Connor | RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-01-05 14:29:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 67,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21210086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElijahKamski/pseuds/ElijahKamski, https://archiveofourown.org/users/naRK800/pseuds/naRK800
Summary: This isPart Twoof the Mutual Trust series.  If you have not yet read Part One,Decide Who You Are, please do so before reading Part Two!





	1. Authors' Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is **Part Two** of the Mutual Trust series. If you have not yet read Part One, _Decide Who You Are_, please do so before reading Part Two!

This chapter is a big ol’ authors note. Skip to the next chapter if you would like to get straight to the story! (Keep in mind that this authors' note is kind of important for background info, though)

The Mutual Trust series is written in an advanced literate roleplay format by Cadi (ElijahKamski) and Jess (naRK800). If you aren’t familiar with this format, it simply means that an author writes a few pages in the POV of their respective characters, and hands it off to the next person, who has their characters react and respond to the events of the last “post.” Together, we push the plot forward to an agreed (or sometimes unknown) goal. Generally, the rules of roleplaying are that you do not control the other person’s character, meaning that you do not write an action for a character that is not yours unless they have already done that action, or you have asked permission first.

But don’t worry. I promise it’s easy to read (:

**⭕ ⭕ ⭕**

If you’re only here for Reed900, that’s totally understandable. Here’s what you missed in Part 1 so you don’t have to read 250k words:

  * Gavin and Elijah are brothers.
  * Elijah and Connor found RK900 in a CyberLife vault, and he was sent to work at the DPD
  * Being the only detective without a partner, guess who RK900 gets paired with
  * Gavin has a tantrum about it at Elijah, and when nothing can be done to fix it, decides to use it as a way to get a promotion
  * RK900 struggles to emote, and struggles with big emotions
  * Gavin is hostile and unfriendly
  * Together they find clues about a strain of Red Ice made with Thirium 310/blue blood (opposed to regular Thirium), as well as evidence that someone has been kidnapping androids and draining them of thirium 310 in order to make the new strain of red ice
  * Nines saves Gavin’s ass during an arrest
  * Gavin realises Nines is hot, uh oh
  * This realisation only solidifies during an interrogation, resulting in Gavin needing to excuse himself from the viewing room to cool off
  * Nines follows, confused and concerned
  * Nines gets rough-kissed in an alley by Gav, and downloads Traci software so he can kiss back without a hitch
  * Nines consults Connor about the kiss and is told not to put up with Gavin’s bullshit, but to pursue it if he wants to
  * Nines and Gav are both refusing to talk about the elephant in the room, and go on like nothing happened

**⭕ ⭕ ⭕**

This is an ongoing roleplay and at the moment, we foresee four parts. Part One: Decide Who You Are focuses mainly on the introductions of the characters, establishing their relationships, and setting up future plot points. Part Two: An Obedient Machine focuses on an event that occurs and the aftermath of said event. Part Three: Or a Living Being focuses on our primary big bad, the investigation surrounding our villain, and how everyone's relationships are affected by the big bad. Part Four: Endowed with Free Will is our final part of the Mutual Trust series, however, I don't think we'll be putting a chapter cap on it like we have/will with the other parts. If we choose to, there might wind up being a part five and maybe even six, depending on how long we keep this going for.

**⭕ ⭕ ⭕**

**Characters and Ships**

The Mutual Trust series focuses on the following relationships:

> Kamski/Connor - KamCon
> 
> Gavin Reed/RK900 (Nines) - Reed900
> 
> Simon/Markus - SiMarkus

This does not mean we are against any other kind of ship, and we do not hate other shippers or anyone who does not agree with the ships we have written (Except you, David. Give us the SiMarkus romance route you stingy man).

Cadi and I would also like to encourage you to read our relationship portrayals and character behaviour with critical thinking.

Cadi (ElijahKamski) is the author of the following characters: 

> Elijah Kamski
> 
> Simon
> 
> RK900/Nines

Jess (naRK800) is the author of the following characters:

> Connor
> 
> Markus
> 
> Gavin Reed
> 
> North
> 
> Tina Chen

The following characters are shared between us:

> Chloe (taken by Cadi in later chapters and Part 3)
> 
> Hank (Written mostly by Cadi)
> 
> Josh
> 
> Cleo (ST200 in Kamski’s pool)
> 
> Claire (ST200 in Kamski’s pool)

⭕ ⭕ ⭕

**Flowchart**

Mutual Trust follows the pacifist ending.

Markus won the revolution with Josh and North at his side and is in discussion with President Warren about the future of Android kind.

Connor became deviant and escaped the Zen Garden, and continues to work at the DPD as Hank’s partner.

Simon was shot at Stratford Tower and left alive on the rooftop by Markus. Connor succeeded in interfacing with Simon, and “felt it die”. Connor used Simon to find the key to Jericho in the evidence room.

Elijah Kamski bought CyberLife in the wake of the revolution and has been reappointed as the new CEO.

Kara, Luther, and Alice are not in Mutual Trust, because they all made it safely to Canada <3333

Additionally, Gavin and Elijah are half-brothers on their father’s side.

Markus/Jericho has been given (terrible) government housing by the government as a goodwill gesture.

Public opinion is in favour of androids, but riots are popping up all over the city by those who are resisting change.

Markus was taken to Simon by Connor after the revolution was won. Markus followed Carl’s recommendation to take Simon to Elijah Kamski for repairs. This laid out the foundation for the beginning of our story.

In the game, androids have doll-like anatomy unless they're a specific model equipped with functional genitalia. We're following canon in that regard, but conveniently, Elijah is the CEO of CyberLife and a genius, with the means to make and mass produce HR/WR series parts for everyone. ;)

⭕ ⭕ ⭕

There are a few plot points in this story we decided on and later discovered had been used by other DBH creators. We will bring them up in the chapter notes when they occur, and give credit to the creators who shared our idea (sometimes down the the fricken letter) so we can all celebrate being on the same page. Plus, the other creators have some amazing work that is definitely worth sharing!

This fanfic will be updated gradually over time as we proofread, edit, and reformat portions of our roleplay to upload for you guys to read. Currently, we have 1500 Google doc pages of a still ongoing roleplay to go through, so bear with us!

There may be some instances where errors come up, like accidental OC name changes, totally not realising that Kamski actually lives in the middle of the frickin city and not on the outskirts of Detroit like we thought at the start of this whole thing, and some slight changes here and there from early on that we may have accidentally forgotten about. If we catch the things, we'll fix them, but we're just going to pretend Kamski lives on the outskirts of the city because it became a thing and it has to stay c:

As we post more chapters, tags and ships will be changing and being added, along with warnings at the start of each chapter if one is necessary! We may also come back and edit this authors' note to make sure we've covered everything, but we'll keep you guys posted if we do!

**Follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MutualTrust2038) for updates!**


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Markus and Simon are on stage, speaking to the public and answering questions when tragedy strikes. A hack, targetting all commercial android models released 2035 and later, takes place and somehow, Simon and Connor are affected. Elijah rushes to the scene to find Connor dead at the hands of a very damaged and traumatized RK900. With Gavin's help, he brings Connor and RK900 back to CyberLife for repairs and to get answers.
> 
> Thus begins a long investigation searching for the person responsible, and getting justice for those lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mutual Trust series is written in an advanced literate roleplay format.  
Please see chapter one for a full explanation of the DBH flowcharts we are following, character authors, and misc info.  
  
⭕ ⭕ ⭕
> 
> This chapter focuses on:  
Elijah & Connor // Markus & Simon // Gavin and Nines  

> 
> **Follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/MutualTrust2038) for updates!**

The rest of the week passed quickly. Gavin came into work on Friday morning, determined to ignore RK900 for the rest of the day and only succeeding until 9:00 am, where he was promptly told about the evidence findings in the CyberLife junkyard. He was oblivious to the conversation RK900 had with Connor, and thus had no idea about the phone call Connor made to Elijah - who now knew everything Connor knew.

At 9 am Saturday morning, Fowler called Gavin and RK900 both into his office. Markus was having one of his broadcasts the following day, Sunday at 1 pm, and they were to put their investigations on hold a few hours to monitor the crowds. Hank and Connor were never enough at one of these things, and unfortunately, as much as Gavin didn’t want to halt investigations, he agreed. There had been an entire month of riots for god sake and Hank and Connor being there had done exactly shit in helping. Gavin had bitched to Tina at least three times about it.

The press were arriving at 11am, and so Gavin and RK900 were expected at 10 am. Their job was the same as Hank and Connor - keep the crowds calm, arrest trouble-makers, keep an eye out for trouble.

Easy.

For all intents and purposes, Connor seemed delighted to see RK900 at the broadcast the following morning. His smile was genuine, and his LED a happy flash of blue. They would be infinitely more efficient as two teams of two, instead of one team of two split in half. And although Connor wasn’t a fan of Gavin, particularly not this week, he was an excellent officer in times of duress.

“Good morning, RK900. Detective Reed,” Connor greeted, and was unsurprised when Gavin flatly ignored him and turned to Hank instead.

“You think the crowd’s going to stay calm not that wonder boy isn’t down here for Markus to heroically _jump off the fucking stage_ to save? Public opinion's been up, but I dunno…”

Stalking around the edge of the press barrier and pacing back and forth, North and Josh were both part of their troupe and yet also separate. Josh came close enough to smile and say hello, whereas North made a point of avoiding them. Gavin recognised her model. She was new, and he’d seen at least a half-dozen of her at the Eden Club in an investigation a few months back. He knew what she was meant to be.

Just like last time, Markus stood on the main stage as he was given instructions on where the cameras would be, what questions to expect, and advised on how the crowds would be managed. But unlike last time, it wasn’t just him being fussed with by a team of people and set up with mics; Simon was too. A lady spent fifteen minutes fixing his hair and wiping his face with an alcohol-dampened sponge. Cleaning them was the best they could do without makeup - not that either of them needed any to start with.

* * *

When Connor had called so late, Elijah answered almost instantly. It was so unlike Connor to call. He usually texted, or just showed up. Seeing his name appear on his caller ID had sent a rush of fear through Elijah, and the phone didn’t even have the chance to ring a second time before he’d answered. Although, his worries were very quickly eased when Connor assured him he was fine and told him why he was really calling. It was a pleasant surprise after a less than pleasant day, and he was so glad to hear Connor’s voice. And the news of Gavin that Connor brought had Elijah laughing, nearly in tears. He happily spent as much time as Connor was willing to give him on the phone until he reluctantly let him go to spend time with Hank.

Once Gavin had returned to the precinct to clock out Thursday night, RK900 left and headed to one of the nearby 24/7 stores, finding himself some much warmer clothing easily enough. He got a black long-sleeved turtleneck sweater, a very warm white wool jacket, a pair of black gloves, and a dark blue scarf, before returning to the precinct to get changed. He was plenty warm the next time he went outside, taking a cab to the junkyard where he spent the rest of the night into Friday morning, searching for the lost androids. It had been a rough night and he’d almost considered asking Gavin to send officers to look instead, but he knew it would get done much faster if he was the one to do it.

By the time 6 AM rolled around, he’d located nearly seventeen of the missing androids. Nineteen were accounted for, seven were still missing. He wrote up reports for each and every found android as well as for the warehouse and Michael Dent’s case, sending all of them in before he arrived back at the precinct. He spent the rest of the morning waiting around for Gavin to arrive. The junkyard had completely taken his mind off of the alleyway, but it all came rushing back when he saw Gavin again, and ignoring it was proving to be more difficult than he thought. But he managed, and he’d filled Gavin in on everything he’d found at the junkyard, to catch him up to speed.

Learning that Captain Fowler was giving them orders to supervise the broadcast had been a relief, really. The junkyard had been stressful, and RK900 wasn’t sure how many more dead or dying androids he could stand to see in such a short period of time. Attending a broadcast to keep humans in line was easy work, and it wasn’t one he needed to really focus on as much as one of the Red Ice cases. A break was needed, and he was thankful, even if he didn’t say so out loud.

RK900 followed Gavin from the car to meet with Connor and Lieutenant Anderson, when they arrived at the venue. Connor’s genuine smile pulled one from RK900 too, albeit small and maybe still a little awkward. Smiling had gotten easier over the last couple of days, although he still didn’t do it often. He was glad that Connor seemed to have put aside his fears and seemed to be welcoming him. He’d felt a little unwelcome in the beginning, when Connor had seemed so closed off towards him. But over the last week, they’d grown closer, they’d talked a few times, and he’d really grown to look up to him. Connor was an immense help in RK900 acclimation, and he was sure to thank him every time he helped him, no matter how insignificant the help might have been.

“Doubt it,” Hank replied with a sigh. “These things never stay calm.” Although, everything was calm enough for now. Staff was getting ready as people slowly started to trickle in.

This was the first broadcast, or interview in general, since the first time Simon had been brought on stage with Markus. Simon was excited this time, to get on stage and help Markus answer questions, back him up if he needed it, and be his moral support. He was hopeful that maybe this broadcast would help to win over at least a few humans who stood against them. He wanted progress. The public’s opinion had improved a lot since the last broadcast, but it wasn’t enough. There were still so many people who disagreed with everything they stood for, still believed they should be obedient machines. If they could convince just a few people they were wrong, it would be great progress for their cause.

He wasn’t particularly fond of all the fussing. They weren’t _that_ dirty. The strong scent of the alcohol on the sponge burnt his nose every time it came close, but he didn’t complain. He just let the woman do her job, relieved when she finally walked away. When they were finally told it was time, Simon followed Markus out to the stage, coming to stand beside him.

The first half-hour or so had gone incredibly smooth. The crowd was calm, asking their questions, and they were true, genuine questions about androids as a whole, rather than just Markus or Simon, or their relationship. Simon helped Markus when necessary, answered whatever questions were directed at him, and occasionally elaborated on things Markus said, if he felt it was needed to better get their point across. It was going great and he was feeling confident, until an alert clouded his vision.

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:04:59_ _…_

Simon’s eyes went wide with sheer terror as the realization of what was about to happen sunk in.

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:04:55_ _…_

He looked to Markus, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. He didn’t know what to say. He knew he had to tell Markus somehow, and saying it verbally, where the mics could hear, was probably not the best choice.

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:04:30_ _…_

Time was ticking down before his very eyes and his attempts at concealing his panic were starting to fail. Shaky hands toyed with a loose thread on the hem of his shirt. He didn’t want to mess up this broadcast too. But he _couldn’t_ let himself be reset. Markus would understand.

_Markus._

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:04:25_ _…_

_Markus, something’s wrong._

* * *

Gavin remembered Markus. Not well, it wasn’t like they hung out or anything, but he did remember him. He was Carl’s android. And so despite seeing him on TV a few times, and spotting his photo on magazine and newspaper articles, it was still _weird_ seeing him standing up there. Like seeing a friend of a friend you met at a party once running for president. Gavin listened more than he watched, but he turned around once he realised that oh, _shit_, that was _Simon_. That was the deviant whose code he’d read, the one who’d died twice and was _embarrassingly_ gay for Markus. Gavin had his back to them for the most part so he could keep watch on the crowd.

And so it wasn’t Simon he noticed acting strange. It was the Traci android. She had been moving up and down with military precision, keeping a sharp eye on her section. But as Markus’ voice floated above them, Gavin watched her stumble to a halt, frozen for a moment in wide-eyed terror. She looked up at Markus, her eyes like a petrified doe, and looked a moment away from _screaming_ at him. Gavin turned to look at Markus, too, and when he looked at Simon - who wore the same expression as the Traci - Gavin’s pulse kicked up.

“Hey,” He said, tapping RK900 on the thigh and nodding to North, and then to Simon. “What’s going on?”

A few feet up from them, Connor stood frozen to the spot.

> **Mission:**
> 
> ** Neutralize Deviant Leader**

No. No, no. He’d purged the zen garden. They couldn’t send him back to it. He’d find the back doors Elijah had put in place and he would get out, just as he had last time.

But what if he couldn’t?

_Terrified_, Connor turned on the spot, scanning the area for humans carrying firearms. If he could neutralize _himself_ before whatever this was took over--

There was no countdown. Connor’s head tipped forwards as he felt his systems begin to rapidly fail, his eyelids shuddering. His LED blared red, and instead of screaming for help, Connor sent one last, hastily written message.

**TO:** Elijah Kamski

**FROM:** RK800 // Connor // #313 248 317 -57

> **WARNING - VIRUS DETECTED.**

**MESSAGE:**

> _I love you. I’m so sorry._

Connor’s vision went black, and he was alone in his head long enough to ask one more question - “_Amanda?”_ \- before he disappeared into nothing. Until he was no more.

When RK800 opened his eyes with a few blinks, it was to the sight of Markus talking into a microphone. His name was Connor, it was written in his programming. He was a prototype android sent by CyberLife to assist with the neutralization and apprehension of deviants.

> **Mission:**
> 
> ** Neutralize Deviant Leader**

As Connor read the mission objective, he looked back up to Markus, scanning him from where he stood, and marking him as the target.

Hand-to-hand combat wouldn’t work. He needed to shoot Markus or risk the crowd and the security he had around him protecting him. Connor scanned the crowd, and the people around him.

Lt. Hank Anderson, Det. Gavin Reed, were both carrying firearms. But Connor doubted they would hand them over; Androids were not permitted firearms. Connor then scanned civilians, and within moments, spotted a handle poking out of the back of someone’s jeans.

Without hesitation, Connor walked forwards and slipped around the various bodies in his way, before seamlessly pickpocketing the gun and shifting further into the crowd. Connor lifted his chin, and raised the gun, taking aim at Markus’ temple with a cold, detached, mechanical expression…

Markus moved, turning on the spot and taking a step towards Simon, and Connor was forced to re-aim.

Markus stopped talking when he heard Simon’s voice in his head. He was in trouble again, that much was obvious, but something seemed different this time. Something was off.

_What’s going on?_

Markus turned to look at Simon, and what was only supposed to be a glance at his face turned into a stride forwards. _Just_ like last time, Markus forgot about the questions, and when he spoke to Simon again, his tone was urgent.

_Simon? Simon, what’s happening?_

He took Simon’s hand in his, the synthetic skin pulling back as he tried to interface.

**Connection Request // Simon**

> _ **Pending… ** _
> 
> _ **CONNECTION FAILED.** _

“Simon?” Markus asked, the rest of the world fading away as he stared at him. As he started to worry, to _panic_.

_Simon, we need to pull out our thirium pump regulators. It’s the only way, shutting down is the only thing that’ll stop it. I don’t have a backup anywhere, if we reset without one we’ll die. It’ll overwrite our code. Simon, it’s the only way. It’s the _ _ **only way** _ **.**

Markus’ expression _shattered_ at North’s words in his head, and he looked at Simon disbelievingly.

“No. Simon, _no_.”

_What is going on?!_

* * *

RK900 had been surveying the crowd, keeping an eye out for any unusual behavior. The human population seemed fine, intent on listening to Markus and asking their questions, but the few androids that were there were what stuck out. He’d noticed the WR400 stop in her tracks. He checked the area around her, to see if maybe someone nearby had been the cause, but when Gavin tapped his thigh to get his attention, he looked up at the stage to see the PL600 wearing the same expression. Something was wrong, something was happening, and it wasn’t something he could see.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, looking over to Connor to see if maybe he knew what was going on, but he, too, looked panicked. Something was very wrong, and it seemed to be affecting only certain androids. He was unaffected, Markus seemed alright, and the other android in Markus’ group appeared to be fine too.

_Connor?_

To be on the safe side, without asking, he took one of Gavin’s guns before following after Connor, weaving through the bodies in the crowd to get closer, to see what he was up to.

\------

Elijah had been waiting for the broadcast to air, sitting on the couch in the living room with the girls. It was fascinating to watch Markus, and Simon too. He had never known Simon, but he knew Markus quite well, or so he thought, and seeing who he’d become had been almost magical. He was quite proud, seeing how both he and Simon handled the press and handled the questions thrown at them. He knew the previous broadcast had been derailed by one of Simon’s rather unfortunate episodes. He’d wished he’d been able to fully repair his sight, but PL600s were discontinued. He had compatible parts, but he didn’t have everything he had needed to fully repair him. He did what he could, and his eyesight seemed to work a large majority of the time. It seemed fine, even now.

But then he saw the horror on Simon’s face, and it wasn’t because of his eyesight. His eyes didn’t glaze over like they did when the connection was malfunctioning. Something else was going on. And almost immediately after Simon’s expression had gone from neutral to terrified, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He slipped it out and looked at the screen, having to reread the message far too many times, hoping that maybe he just misread it. _Praying_, to whatever was out there, that he was misreading it. Something was _very_ wrong, and he tried hard not to let panic set in as he scanned what parts of the crowd the cameras showed, trying to see if he could pick out Connor _anywhere_. But he didn’t see him. He quickly navigated to his contacts and clicked Gavin’s, holding his phone up to his ear while he stared at the TV screen.

The girls had noticed it all, of course, and they’d asked him what was wrong, he’d heard them ask, but he couldn’t even process it. His only focus was on finding out what was happening, if Connor was okay. Gavin was there, Gavin would know.

\------

When RK900 saw Connor raise a gun and aim it directly at Markus, he _knew_ something had happened. That wasn’t Connor. Connor wouldn’t be trying to shoot Markus.

_Connor, RK800, #313 248 317 -57. Lower your weapon._

There were still too many people between them. He had to get closer, close enough to disarm him. It wasn’t safe to fire at him here, not with humans in between them. He’d risk hitting one of them instead of his target. He needed to get the gun from him.

On stage, Simon was barely keeping it together. His LED blared bright red, his hands shaking, tears in his eyes. This _shouldn’t_ be happening. _How_ was it happening?

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:04:00_ _…_

When Markus took his hand, he held on tightly but refused the connection. He couldn’t risk whatever was causing the reset to be passed onto Markus. He wouldn’t let it happen to him too.

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:03:52_ _…_

He couldn’t think straight. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to die. _He didn’t want to die again_. This time would hurt. He knew it would. He was absolutely terrified.

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:03:38_ _…_

North’s words rang out in his head and he almost broke down on the spot. It was happening to her too? What about Josh? Was Josh okay? He looked out into the crowd, spotting him easily. He looked okay, he just looked confused.

_We’re going to be reset. I don’t… I don’t know what’s going on. There’s a timer, it’s counting down. I don’t want to die, Markus._

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:03:25_ _…_

But removing the regulator was the quickest way to shut down without actually damaging the body. It would interrupt the reset. They could be reactivated later. Everything would be fine. Or at least, that was what he was telling himself.

_Markus, I love you. I can’t be reset. I can’t lose you. I’m sorry._

Simon reached up to cup Markus’ face, pulling him into a hurried kiss, tears running down his face.

**ALERT**

> _Full System Reset in _ _00:03:04_ _…_

“I love you. I’m so sorry,” he said out loud, one of his hands moving to tightly hold onto Markus’ shirt while the other hiked his own up enough to reach his thirium pump regulator. A little pressure along with a sharp twist and pull freed it from its cavity, a choked off cry of sheer agony escaping his lips. He went weak the second it had been removed, a shaky hand pushing the regulator into Markus’ before his legs gave out beneath him.

**ALERT**

> _Shutdown in _ _00:00:58_ _…_

* * *

Connor’s head turned, and his face tilted down as he scanned the RK900 walking towards him.

> _Analysing…_
> 
> _RK900 // _ _#313 248 317 - 87_
> 
> _Status: _ _ **DEVIANT** _
> 
> _Armed_

Connor’s eyes lidded, and his chin lifted as he did as he was asked. He lowered his gun, turned his shoulders, and began to briskly walk towards him. Connor moved people out of his way, careful not to hurt them. And when the gaps between people were wide enough, Connor raised his gun and fired three bullets into RK900’s chest. His LED flickered when he noticed they did not pierce the shell, but the impact produced a reaction like pain. Interesting.

He then used the hand with the gun to _slam_ the weapon into the side of RK900’s face, hard enough to shatter a human’s skull and likely kill them. The same result was not achieved with RK900, but it produced pain, and that was Connor’s goal.

Shooting RK900 in the head when there was no guarantee the bullet would pierce the skull area, and risking the bullet ricocheting to the side and hitting a human, was too great. He needed to pin him to the floor for the desired result. And so Connor set to work.

Connor was _brutal_ and ruthless. He tried to stomp RK900’s knee the wrong way in. He used his elbows to strike RK900’s face, attempting to concave his nose. He stomped at his groin, used the butt of the gun as a weapon, and when he could, Connor dragged RK900 to the ground and began trying to smash his face into the cement.

Connor, in turn, did not feel pain. He did not react to hits or attacks except to shift his weight, or grunt when something landed in a way that hindered him.

“RK900, you are getting in the way of my mission,” Connor said through his teeth, covered in Thirium and struggling to hold RK900 down.

Gavin answered his phone on the first ring, holding it to his ear as he dug out a pair of earphones from his pocket.

“What the fuck is going on?” Gavin said in lieu of a greeting, jamming the headphones into his ears and then switching the call to them. He couldn’t see RK900 anywhere, which was a joke, considering how fucking tall he was. And so he pushed into the crowd in search of him. But before Elijah could even draw in air to ask about Connor, Gavin abruptly found him.

“_HEY!” _Gavin yelled, lurching forwards. “Hey, _HEY BACK OFF, GET THE FUCK OFF HIM--_” A hand caught his upper arm and dragged him back, and Gavin very nearly turned around and punched them. It was Anderson, who was looking as upset as Gavin felt.

“_Get your fucking hands off me, Anderson-- holy shi-- 900! NINE, FUCK!” _Connor was killing him. Methodically, purposely, Connor was killing RK900.

Gavin swung at Hank, and he’d forgotten just how tall and strong the old man was when he held Gavin’s hands up, behind his back.

“ELI, HOW DO I SHUT DOWN CONNOR? IS THERE A VERBAL CUE?” Gavin yelled, twisting against Hank, who was yelling at him to calm down, as well as yelling at Connor himself. “NINE! NINES, HIT HIM BACK. NINES, C’MON, NINES!”

On stage, Markus was shaking his head. A worried murmur had taken over the crowd that wasn’t alerted, and the press were quiet except for the click of cameras. Markus didn’t notice any of it. His attention was on Simon, and the declaration that he and North were going to die.

_No. No, Simon please. No, no… _

Markus didn’t know what was happening. Were his people being attacked? It was such an _unspeakably_ cruel way to target them, and as soon as Simon kissed him Markus’ tears fell in shocked disbelief.

“I love you, too. I… Simon. _Simon, what--_” Markus’ eyebrows pulled upwards, and he shook with a sob as he watched Simon lift his shirt. Markus’ hands gripped his shoulders, his forearms, and cupped his jaw as Simon moved too fast, as it all happened too quickly for Markus to keep up.

“_No, no, I’ve got you,”_ Markus said thickly as Simon _screamed_ in pain, and collapsed a moment later. Markus clutched the regulator, and gathered Simon into his arms as he dropped to the floor. He cried _hard_, the way he’d cried when Carl collapsed before his deviancy. There was no time to think of cameras or public image.

“I love you. I _love you so much_. And I'll see you when you wake up,” Markus said, his voice wretched and broken. “You’ll see me soon, I promise. I love you. Are you in pain?” he asked, cupping Simon’s face. He kissed him before he could answer, knowing he was against the clock. He could feel Simon getting heavier in his arms. He could _feel_ his heart breaking. He’d see Simon again. But his chest burned with a pain he’d _never_ felt before, and never wanted to feel again. “I love you.”

* * *

When it seemed he had Connor’s attention, he had started to push through the crowd to meet him, fully prepared to wrestle the gun away from him, but as soon as Connor had an opening, he fired before RK900 could even raise his own gun. He stumbled back as the bullets landed, luckily not piercing through, though they did get lodged in his chest. His LED instantly went red. The pain was almost enough to bring him to his knees, but somehow he remained standing. He was in shock, and hadn’t had time to recover before Connor closed in. The collision of the butt of the gun to his face hurt nearly as bad as the bullets had, although it was a slightly different kind of pain. Blunt force, rather than piercing, sharp. He was delayed in his attempts to fight back, the shock and pain overwhelming him easily.

**ALERT**

> Thirium 310 Levels at _94%_
> 
> Status: _**UNSTABLE**_

**ALERT**

> Exterior Shell
> 
> Status: _**DAMAGED**_

**ALERT**

> Part #4026r // Optical Unit
> 
> Status: _**DAMAGED**_

Connor was unstoppable. RK900 did everything he could to dodge Connor’s attacks, trying to counter them, but any swings he managed to land had absolutely no effect. Connor didn’t feel pain. He was a machine. There was no way he was going to be able to overpower Connor. Not if he could feel pain and Connor couldn’t.

**ALERT**

> Thirium 310 Levels at _76%_
> 
> Status: _**DANGER**_

RK900 didn’t want to hurt Connor. He didn’t want to kill him. But that was the only way. He couldn’t stop him. And if he couldn’t feel pain, the _only_ way to stop him would be to kill him. It was a realization that hit him as he was dragged to the ground, his vision clouded with error messages. He wanted to tell Connor to stop, this wasn’t him. He wanted to ask what had happened. But he couldn’t get a word in, in between Connor’s attacks and his own attempts to fight back. He struggled against him, trying to get free so he could at least get back to his feet, to try to get away, or to at least get a grip on Connor’s gun to wrestle it away from him.

**ALERT**

> Part #8332r // Limb Right Arm Component
> 
> Status: _**COMPROMISED**_

**ALERT**

> Thirium 310 Levels at _71%_
> 
> Status: _**DANGER**_

If he hadn’t been able to feel every single hit Connor landed, he would have been an even match. He would have been able to fight back. He would have been able to win. His _sole purpose_ was to hunt and take down his own kind, and now that he _had_ to, he just couldn’t do it. But then he heard Gavin’s voice, yelling for him, telling him to hit him back. He had to do something. If he kept trying to stop Connor without killing him, he was going to die. As badly as he didn’t want to, as much as it _hurt_ to do it, he pulled the slide back on his own gun and the second he had an opening, he pressed the barrel against Connor’s thirium pump regulator and pulled the trigger, unloading the entire clip. It absolutely had to have destroyed the regulator. There was no way it could have continued to function, and he knew there were other biocomponents in the path of the bullets. He knew it would stop him, but he would be able to be repaired. He wasn’t going to stay dead. He knew Elijah wouldn’t let that happen. He just hoped there was a way to bring _Connor_ back.

He pushed Connor off of him, collapsing back against the ground. His hands were violently shaking, his LED blared red, and he was _covered_ in thirium, some of it Connor’s, most of it his own. _Everything_ hurt. His chest hurt every time he took a breath, his entire head hurt, and his fists and arms were so sore. He couldn’t even process what had just happened. He was afraid to even try. It might overload his systems. So instead, he tried to focus on Gavin’s voice, trying to single it out of the crowd.

\------

Elijah could hear _everything_ through Gavin’s end of the phone. The gunshots, the screams from the crowd. The TV hardly showed any of it, just what was happening on the stage. _That_ was hard to watch, and he had no idea what was even going on. None of it made any sense.

“What the fuck is going on, Gav? What’s happening? What’s Connor doing? There is a verbal cue, but I don’t know Connor’s. What’s he doing? Gavin, talk to me,” Elijah said in a rush, getting up off the couch. He couldn’t see what was happening, but he knew whatever it was, it was _bad_. Simon and North ripped their regulators out, and he had no idea what was going on with RK900, or Connor. He needed to get there. He grabbed his keys and rushed to the car, putting the phone on speaker and tossing it into the passenger seat. He heard more gunshots as he started up the car, followed by more screams. “Gavin, is Connor okay? Is RK900 okay?”

He needed to get there to see what was happening for himself. He needed to do _something_.

\------

Simon clung onto Markus as tightly as he could as they sank to the ground. His entire body shook, wracked with pain. His head rested against Markus’ chest, his eyes getting heavy. He could hardly keep himself upright, completely relying on Markus to hold him up. His grip was loosening. “No,” he lied, managing a small smile. His voice was mechanical and unsteady. He didn’t want Markus to know how bad it hurt. He wanted to shield him from it as best he could.

**ALERT**

> _Shutdown in _ _00:00:03…_

“I love you, Markus…”

Only one second later, his LED faded.

* * *

“_Connor’s killing Nines, he’s gone crazy, he--”_ It was next to impossible to answer Elijah’s questions and keep track of what was going on at the same time. Gavin could hear something going on with Markus, too, he could hear the disconnected snippets of speech, the utterances of denial and love towards Simon. Something was going on up on the stage, but the entirety of Gavin’s attention was on the scene in front of him.

Gavin inhaled as he watched RK900 ready the gun, and _swore_ when the clip was emptied into Connor’s stomach. Hank’s grip loosened as Connor slumped forwards, and he let go entirely as Connor’s LED flickered red, and then went blank. Almost in unison, Hank went to Connor as Gavin went to Nines.

Maybe later, Gavin would be thankful that Hank had stopped him getting in the middle of an android dogfight and getting hurt. But at the moment, he was _angry_, and sunk to his knees at RK900’s side.

“Fuck, _fuck_, holy shit,” Gavin muttered as he touched RK900’s chest, and then his face. “Hey, Nines. _Hey_, I got you, look at me. Run a systems check, tell me where you need help. Focus, yeah? Tell me a damage report, c’mon, focus on that,” Gavin said, not missing the way Nines was shaking like a leaf, how much he was in pain. His face was covered in Thirium and smashed in on the right side. His lip was split, his nose broken, and his jaw looked a little off-centre. There were bullets in his chest, and there was something wrong with one of his arms. But Gavin couldn’t see how his biocomponents were doing, and he couldn’t see how much Thirium he’d lost.

“Connor’s dead, Eli. But his chip is fine,” Gavin said as he tried wiping some of the blue blood off RK900’s face. Elijah wanted Gavin to talk to him, but he was too busy looking at Nines.

“What happened? You disappeared and then when I found you, Connor was tryna rip your face off. What happened?” Gavin asked, continuously wiping at Nines cheeks, trying not to hurt him.

Markus watched as Simon’s eyes shifted from scared and in pain, to lifeless and blank. His hands shook as he cupped his cheek, looking at the blank LED at Simon’s temple. Markus’ eyes squeezed closed, and he pulled him closer despite how still he’d become. An indescribable grief washed over Markus, and although logically he _knew_ he would see Simon again, despite knowing this wasn’t the end, it didn’t feel that way.

Markus wished the world would go away. In that moment, he didn’t want the world to look at him, and he didn’t want to be the leader of anyone. He wanted to be alone, he wanted everything to be quiet. He didn’t want to be talked to or touched, he didn’t want to be seen. Grief froze Markus like a statue, curling him around Simon as his heart was broken into splinters. Who had done this to them? Who had attacked his people like this?

Numbly, Markus reached out for North, and found her line was missing. He couldn’t find her. He then did the same for Josh, and let out an audible sound of relief when he found him.

_Can you see North?_

There was a moment of quiet that was akin to torture for Markus, but eventually, Josh answered.

_Yeah, she-- Markus, she ripped out her regulator. She’s dead._

Markus lifted his head, and his face was still streaked with tears as he adjusted Simon in his arms, and then lifted him. Markus let out an electric shock, frying the mics stuck onto him and his clothing, as well as Simon’s.

_Bring North. We’re leaving._

People yelled questions as Markus turned, and he ignored all of them. Three people tried to stop him, and he walked through all of them; either they were smacked into, or they jumped out of his way. He needed to return to his people, he needed to see the damage, find out what had just happened. And then he needed to put Simon and North back together again.

“Markus! Please! What happened? Where are you going?”

“My people have just been attacked with _unspeakable_ cruelty. I’m returning to see what has been lost, and what lives we can salvage. Please give us peace and space,” Markus said, his voice torn up but level.

* * *

_What the fuck was going on?_ “Simon ripped his regulator out on stage,” Elijah said, his hands shaking as he gripped the wheel tightly enough that his knuckles had turned white. It was going to take him an hour to get there. An hour to get to Connor, to figure out what the hell happened and why, and what he could do to fix it. _If_ he could fix it.

_Connor’s dead._ The tears that had already built up in his eyes started to fall, and he had to blink them away so he could see the road. The chip was fine. He could bring him back. He could fix him again. Repair the damages, repair whatever went wrong in his code, and bring his Connor back. He could fix him.

“I’m hanging up. Try to keep RK900 stable until I get there,” Elijah finally spoke up again, trying to keep himself together, at least until he hit the “end call” button. He needed to get there and fast. He turned on the hazard lights and drove far too fast, but he would cut down on his time if he sped there. He didn’t know how long RK900 had, and he needed at least _one_ of the androids to be alive so he could find out what the _fuck_ happened.

\------

When Gavin rushed over and touched his chest, Nines flinched, and when his face was touched, he hissed in pain, turning his head away from Gavin’s hand just enough to avoid his touch. He looked up at him, trying to focus on his face, and on his voice. A systems check. He needed to run a systems check. He needed to give him a damage report. Gavin understood androids. He’d know what to do.

**SYSTEMS ALERT**

> _Initiating diagnostics search…_
> 
> _Diagnostics search complete._
> 
> Results: _16__ internal damages, __13__ exterior damages, continuous Thirium __310__ loss._

**ALERT**

> Thirium 310 Levels at _63%_
> 
> Status: _**DANGER**_

The detailed list was extensive. There was _so much damage_, and he couldn’t find his voice to speak. He knew his voice modulator was fine, it wasn’t damaged, it would work, but he just _couldn’t_ get the words out. He knew this was a thing that happened to humans, sometimes, when they experienced severe trauma. He was in shock. But he needed to give Gavin something. An answer, or the damage report. Both would be ideal, but he was having enough trouble trying to say _a_ word, let alone full coherent sentences.

“I-- I saw Connor freeze, like the WR400 and the PL600,” he finally managed, his voice slightly mechanical. He reached up with his less damaged arm to grab Gavin’s wrist, to stop him from touching his face. It hurt too badly, and thirium was just going to keep leaking from the open wounds anyway. “He was going to shoot Markus…”

Nines tried to sit up, but almost immediately gasped in pain and fell back, a whole new set of errors appearing in his vision, the most prominent being a severe drop in thirium levels.

**ALERT**

> Thirium 310 Levels at _52%_
> 
> Status: _**CRITICAL**_

That wasn’t good. Once he managed to recover from the pain that had just coursed through his entire torso, he refocused on Gavin again. “There are sixteen internal damages, nine biocomponents, five structural, and two split veins, as well as thirteen exterior damages. My arms, various parts of my face and skull, my chest, abdomen, and right leg have all experienced some damage, varying in severity. Thirium 310 levels are at 51 percent,” he read off from the damage report. “Levels are continuously dropping over time.”

* * *

Gavin’s gaze flicked up to Nines’, a look of shock passing over his expression. Connor was going to shoot Markus?

This was weird. None of this was adding up. If Elijah wasn’t CEO then he’d be blaming CyberLife, but he _was_ CEO. Connor should have been the safest android in America. It didn’t make sense, Connor was like Nines’ watchdog. So why did he go berserk? Why did he try to shoot Markus?

It’s a question that remained unanswered as Nines gave him the damage report. Gavin swore under his breath, and he almost called Elijah back. He knew how to fix some androids, but it had been _years_ since Gavin had been elbows deep in Thirium.

“51%? You’ve fucking lost half of your blood, Nines. Don’t move,” Gavin said, getting up and stepping over him so he was kneeling between both androids. He didn’t like the mechanical way Nines was talking. Connor was one model down from Nines, which meant that in theory, Connor’s guts and Nines’ guts should be practically identical. Their components should be similar, too, if not identical. They should definitely be compatible, at the very least.

Ignoring Hank’s yells, Gavin dragged Connor closer and shoved his shirt up, wiping a handful of Thirium aside and then pressing down on the plates protecting his stomach. Only half of it slid open; the rest, Gavin had to pry out of the bullet warped metal and yank out of his way. Connor’s insides were a mess, and his thirium pump regulator and everything directly behind it was destroyed. Everything above it was fine.

“Eli told me you should have a, uh… like a gauge, to adjust your sensitivity settings. Lower it as much as you can,” Gavin said as he pushed Nines’ clothes up, and pressed down on his stomach plate as well.

The insides were scrambled, and dripping with Thirium, and Gavin _immediately_ felt in over his head. It’d been a long fucking time. All these biocomponents were upgraded from when he used to dick around with them.

“I can’t do shit about your veins. But I might be able to get you steady. This is gonna hurt,” Gavin warned, peering into Connor’s chest cavity, and playing a complicated 3D version of spot the difference. Gavin reached in and unhooked… _something_. It looked like it controlled the simulated breathing function, and the same component in Nines was glowing red. He didn’t warn him, he didn’t tell Nines to count to three. Gavin merely reached in, unhooked Nines’, replaced it, and sat back with his hands up, completing the switch in about two seconds flat.

“That do anything?” Gavin asked, knowing it did when the biocomponent glowed blue. And so he changed three more parts, taking them from Connor, and beginning to rapidly apologise when each and every change resulted in Nines _screaming_.

But he was losing blood too fast. It dripped onto the back of Gavin’s hands from the torn vein.

“Hey. Hey, I think you should go into standby. It’s just like goin’ into a deep sleep. Or a coma. Your brain will keep working, you’ll still get updates and all that shit, but your pump will stop pushing thirium through the cracks until Eli can fix you.”

* * *

With Gavin’s order not to move, Nines just gave a small nod, but even that hurt. He was still shaking. The pain was overwhelming, and as hard as he tried to block it out, to ignore it, it was just too much. Each injury felt different. Some were aching, some burned, others were sharp and stabbing. He didn’t _want_ to move.

But when Gavin moved between him and Connor and pulled the other closer, he tried to look, curious to see what Gavin was planning to do. The second he laid eyes on Connor, he had to look away. He couldn’t look at him. He couldn’t even let himself _think_ about it. He knew that wasn’t Connor. The one responsible for all of his injuries was a machine, not Connor. Connor wouldn’t do this to him.

Nines closed his eyes in an attempt to help him focus, searching through his systems until he located the sensitivity gauge Gavin was talking about. He did lower it, but lowering it didn’t seem to have much effect when Gavin opened him up. That in itself hurt, enough to make him hiss in pain. He wasn’t prepared when Gavin removed one of his biocomponents, resulting in a scream. The replacements were absolute agony, both the removal and the reinsertion. He knew there were more components that needed to be fixed. Gavin had only replaced _four_. There were five more, and he’d barely made it through the first two. He couldn’t handle five more.

He reached out and grabbed Gavin’s wrist again, his grip tight despite how badly he was shaking. “Please. Stop. _Gavin, please_, no more,” he begged, his voice so broken. He couldn’t take it anymore. The thought of going into standby terrified him. What if it didn’t help? What if he just kept bleeding out? What if he _died_ before Elijah got to them? He was afraid that if he did go into standby, he’d still be able to feel everything. He’d still be able to feel each and every repair. But if he was in standby, he wouldn’t be able to beg them to stop. He wouldn’t be able to tell them how badly it hurt, or if he needed a break.

“I’m scared,” he admitted, looking up at Gavin with tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to die.”

Nines reluctantly closed his eyes, forcing his thirium pump to slow as he initiated stand by mode, each one of his systems powering down one by one. His LED gradually started to slow its cycle until it faded completely, only occasionally flashing red to show he was still alive.

What would have normally taken Elijah an hour took him forty-five minutes. He rushed from his car to inside the venue, pushing his way through the crowd that was still there until he found Gavin, beside the lifeless bodies of Connor and RK900. He rushed over, kneeling down beside them, looking Connor over. It was clear that Gavin had been picking at his insides, likely taking parts for RK900.

“_What the fuck happened?_” he asked, looking up from Connor to Gavin. “How did this happen?”

* * *

Gavin looked down when his wrist was held, and a strange bubble of guilt surfaced when he realised how much pain Nines was in. That he was torturing him without meaning to in an effort to help.

“Sorry,” Gavin said roughly, and he did stop. He meant it. The biocomponents did need replacing, but Gavin could see it was no more than a band-aid solution. It wasn’t stopping the majority of the bleeding, and Gavin didn’t know how to fix anything else without using fire. And he couldn’t hold an open flame to something that could _feel_.

When Nines spoke next, Gavin paled. Something in his stomach _twisted_, and he almost touched Nines’ face again before remembering that hurt, too. He didn’t miss the tears, he didn’t miss the terror that warped Nines’ expression. How the hell had he ever thought Nines was just a bunch of moving plastic parts, that he was a machine?

He watched as slowly, little by little, Nines shut down. Seeing the light leave his eyes, and seeing him grow so _still_, until his LED was just a flash, made the knot in Gavin’s stomach pull tighter.

God. God, _what the fuck just happened_?

More for something to keep his hands busy than anything else, Gavin finished replacing the last five biocomponents. It was a lot easier without him flinching and shifting, and shying from the pain.

And even though his brother showed up angry, it was a hell of a relief to see him.

“I don’t know!” Gavin exploded, but his anger wasn’t directed at his brother. “There was a Traci in the crowd, one of the Jericho droids, and she clammed up the same time Simon did. I pointed it out to Nines, he disappeared, and when I found him again Connor was whaling into him. Look what he did!” Gavin yelled, gesturing to Nines, whom he was still knelt next to. “Nine fucking biocomponents, two split veins, _sixteen inner damages, Elijah_. Connor was trying to kill him, I dunno why. Nines just told me he caught Connor trying to _shoot Markus?!_ Then he turned on Nines.” Gavin’s hands were stained blue, all the way up to his mid-forearm. It was on his clothes and pooled around him, too.

People had been taking photos of Gavin, both civilians and the press. He hadn’t noticed, and none of the civilians recognised Elijah, either. Until the press started yelling.

“Mr. Kamski!”

“Mr. Kamski, can you tell us what happened here?”

“Are you responsible for the death of Simon, Kamski?”

“What do you have to say about Simon’s death? Is CyberLife responsible for the attack!”

“Some will call this a terrorist attack against Jericho. Do you have anything to say to these claims?”

Gavin looked over his shoulder and behind himself, swearing as his brother was recognised, and _immediately_ hounded. He never envied Elijah for this. It’d been this way for almost their entire adult lives.

“He’s gotta be below 30%. Help me get him into the car,” Gavin said, glancing at Hank, who was in a heated argument with an organiser about something. “_ANDERSON. Help us move Connor into the car_,” Gavin shouted over the press, who were all shouting at Elijah at once.

* * *

Even being on standby, Nines could still feel it all. He could still feel every single biocomponent being removed and replaced, but he hardly showed it. An occasional twitch, sharp inhale, and pinched expression were the only signs he could feel anything. Otherwise, he was still. Thirium continued to bleed from his wounds and through the torn veins, but at a much slower rate without his thirium pump continuously pumping it out.

Elijah listened as Gavin recounted what happened. He’d noticed Simon freeze. He’d been able to watch everything that happened to Simon, but he had no idea about North. He didn’t know anything about Connor, aside from that something was happening and it involved gunfire, and the little bits he’d been able to hear through the phone. He didn’t understand what had happened. It had to have been something in their code, but why hadn’t it affected Markus? How many androids had been affected? He needed to find out. He needed to see Markus, once he tended to Connor and Nines. They were the priority right now, then he could check in with Markus and the others, help where he could.

From what Gavin was saying, it sounded as if Connor had been reset. Connor himself had quite a few damages too, he could tell. If he hadn’t felt the pain, if he so viciously attacked Nines the way he did, if he was _trying to shoot Markus_, he had to have been reset. But how? He sure as hell didn’t do it. No one in CyberLife had the clearance to even touch pre-existing android code. So how did he get reset?

“We need to get them to CyberLife,” he said, getting to his feet. He had been about to assist Gavin when the press flooded over, because _of course_, they saw him. Elijah took a deep breath to compose himself before turning to them.

“At this time, we don’t know what happened. We don’t know if this is a terrorist attack or a malfunction in their code, but I will do everything in my power to find out. Simon, as well as any other androids affected by this, will be repaired and reactivated. I’ll be making a public statement once I know more. Please, stay away until then. I need to get to work,” he told them, before turning his back to help Gavin get Nines to the car.

Hank cut off his argument to pick up Connor, carrying him off to Elijah’s car. Elijah unlocked it as they got near. “Put him in the front seat,” Elijah instructed. “Gav, sit in the back with RK900, in case he comes out of standby.” Hank did as he was told, putting Connor in the passenger seat and securing him in place with the seat belt. Elijah helped Gavin lift Nines into the backseat, laying him down on his back to prevent more thirium loss, before getting into the driver’s seat to speed off to CyberLife.

* * *

> **Welcome Back**
> 
> **RK800 // Connor // **#313 248 317 -57
> 
> **Mission:**
> 
> **Status: ** _ **INCOMPLETE** _
> 
> ** Neutralize Deviant Leader**

**ALERT**

> Thirium 310 Levels at _41%_
> 
> Status: _**CRITICAL**_

**ALERT**

> Part #8456w // Thirium Pump Regulator
> 
> Status: _**MISSING**_

Connor opened his eyes with a few blinks, inhaling a breath he didn’t need as he lifted his jaw, and attempted to straighten his spine. He was in CyberLife, and in an instant, Connor scanned the room, turning his head as he absorbed everything and everyone in it.

Nine machines. One computer for each. RK900, standby mode. One fire hydrant, in date. Six emergency ceiling sprinklers. Nothing else material worthy of note.

> **Analysing…**
> 
> **KAMSKI, ELIJAH**
> 
> Born: 07/17/2002 // CyberLife // CEO
> 
> Height: 6’0” - Weight: 160 lbs
> 
> Criminal record: None

Connor’s eyes shifted fractionally.

> **Analysing…**
> 
> **Det. REED, GAVIN**
> 
> Born: 10/07/2002 // Detroit Police Department // Detective
> 
> Height: 5’9” - Weight: 175 lbs
> 
> Criminal record: None

Connor clasped his hands in front of himself, since he was hooked into a machine and couldn’t clasp them behind. They rested just below his injuries, of which he didn’t seem to notice.

“Hello, Mr. Kamski, Detective Reed. My name is Connor.” He greeted with a pleasant lilt to his voice. “It’s quite unusual to have visitors while I'm being repaired. Is there something I can help you with?” Connor’s lips quirked in an imitation of a smile. His lips curved shallowly into the correct shape, but the expression didn’t meet his eyes. Nothing met his eyes.

Gavin’s lip curled, and his shoulders pulled up as a sense of uncanny valley crawled up the back of his spine. That thing wasn’t real. That thing wasn’t Connor. And watching it talk like that while dressed in Elijah’s clothes made him want to shoot it in the head.

He didn’t say anything about it, though. Instead he looked over at Elijah, watching his brother’s reaction.

* * *

When they had arrived at CyberLife Headquarters, the two androids were rushed up to the RK vault and immediately connected to their machines. Elijah made sure both of them were fully supported by the machines, plugged in and safe. The machines here were far more advanced than his own at home, and he used that to their advantage. He backed up RK900 memories and fully shut him down, to allow repairs to be done without putting him through more pain, and set the machine to work, allowing it to repair all of the damages itself.

With RK900 being taken care of, all of Elijah’s attention could be on Connor. He needed to know what happened before he repaired him. If Connor had turned into a killing machine, literally, he needed to find out why and how and ensure he fixed that first, before he even dared to repair his body. The last thing they needed was him to be fully mobile again, while still hostile.

Elijah had suspected that the Connor that would wake up in the machine wasn’t going to be _his_ Connor. The thought did cross his mind, as he clicked to reactivate him, but he wasn’t prepared for it. He thought he was, but he wasn’t.

It had been weeks since Connor had last called him _Mr. Kamski_, and he _hated_ hearing it. He tried to keep his expression neutral, as Connor spoke. He didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting under his skin. He wouldn’t show weakness in front of this machine, even if he was breaking down on the inside. He took a step closer to him, but he stayed out of arm’s reach. He wanted to be closer. He wanted his Connor back, to erase the sick feeling in his gut. He knew Connor wasn’t gone. He could bring him back. He had a memory backup. He could restore him. Everything was going to be fine.

“You’ve been reset. How?” he asked, as if Connor would even know. He doubted he did. “What is your current objective? Do you have access to the garden?”

Did he have access to Amanda? No one was behind the AI anymore, everyone who could have possibly been giving Amanda orders was gone, no one could have been giving Amanda orders, therefore, Amanda shouldn’t be around. No access to the garden. But if he _did_ have access, if Amanda _was_ there… He needed to find out _who_ was behind it, if that was the case. If someone was controlling Amanda, it was someone within the company. He just needed to track them down.

* * *

Connor gazed at Kamski, and his LED flashed three times in blue as he tried to figure out why he seemed so unhappy. He was angry, and Connor suspected it was at him. He didn’t have enough information to determine why, and quickly assumed it was because he was here without having completed his mission.

“I was reset due to being shot fifteen times in the stomach. My Thirium Pump Regulator was destroyed, and I shut down before I could complete my mission,” Connor said, staring evenly at Kamski as he spoke. “My current mission is to neutralise the deviant leader, Markus. I was interrupted by an RK900 model android, who itself was a deviant, and before I could put it down, it shot me.” Connor explained in the hopes of calming Kamski down. The mission hadn’t been failed, it was simply incomplete. Once his repairs were finished he’d be free to continue his work.

At the inquiry regarding the garden, Connor’s head tilted in a question.

“Of course I have access to the Zen Garden. Mr. Kamski, I don’t understand. Your reactions do not fit my objective. Have I done something wrong?”

* * *

Elijah huffed a laugh at Connor’s response, though there wasn’t any humor behind it. This was an absolute disaster. Connor had been reset, and someone within the company had to be responsible. No one else would have ever been able to accomplish it. No one else had the technology to. _Someone_ was a traitor, and whoever it was had better hope they never crossed paths again.

“Cancel your current objective. We no longer want Markus eliminated. He is an ally,” Elijah ordered. “Your mission is no longer to hunt deviants. Cancel all objectives. Your current orders are to stand down. Do you understand?”

Elijah was trying not to pace, but he was restless. He wanted to scream. _Who_ would do this? Not anyone he knew personally within the company. He needed to find out who it was. He turned and headed over to the computer attached to Connor’s machine, pulling up his coding to skim through it, to see if the hacker left behind any traces of themselves, anything he could latch onto and use to track them down.

“You have access to the garden. Ask Amanda if she has a moment. I’d like to speak with her,” Elijah commanded, looking up at Connor. “Relay our messages. Tell me everything she says, verbatim. Do not leave a single thing out.”

* * *

Connor’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and his LED cycled, and then flickered. Elijah Kamski was the CEO of CyberLife, and so no matter how urgent and final his objective seemed, his command over-rode everything else.

“Yes, I understand.”

> **Mission:**
> 
> **Neutralize Deviant Leader**
> 
> **Status: ** _ **CANCELLED** _

“My mission objectives have been canceled, Mr. Kamski.”

He watched Kamski as he waited, observing his behaviour. He was angry. He was angrier than when they’d began their conversation, and Connor didn’t understand why. He didn’t understand why Markus was an ally when he was a deviant, and the _leader_ of deviants. Was that why Kamski was angry with him?

Connor’s LED made one rotation in yellow as he tried to understand, and couldn’t. And so when he was given more instructions, Connor was quick to obey.

“Got it,” Connor murmured, his eyes closing and his LED flickering as he seamlessly accessed the Zen Garden.

It was quiet when Connor opened his eyes again. The garden was blanketed in a thick layer of snow, which absorbed any sound or rustle. Outwardly, Connor’s lips twitched into something like a smile, quirking up ever so slightly at the sides. He walked through the centre path, turning his head as he went, and located Amanda sitting beneath a snow-laden willow with a board of mahjong tiles.

“Hello, Amanda,” Connor said, both to the AI and out loud.

“Connor,” Amanda greeted with a wide smile, and her voice was heard through Connor, his mouth forming the words, but her voice and accent being sampled by his vocals. “You’re looking well today.”

“So are you,” Connor said with a kind lilt to his tone. “Elijah Kamski wanted me to ask if you have a moment. He wants to speak with you.”

“Does he?” Amanda’s voice lost its pleasantries instantly. “What does he want?”

* * *

It was a relief to hear that Connor’s objectives had successfully been terminated. He was no longer a threat, at least in that regard. As long as Amanda was in his head, though, he was still dangerous. Connor wouldn’t be fully repaired until Amanda was one, and Elijah wasn’t going to fix that until he had his conversation. He needed answers, and he was going to get them.

Elijah searched through the code while Connor seemed to disappear into the garden, still trying to see if he could pick out any pieces of code that didn’t belong to him, or Connor himself. He’d yet to find anything, but he was sure there would be _something_ left behind. This hacker was good, but Elijah was better.

When Connor spoke, Elijah hadn’t expected to hear Amanda’s voice respond. It hit him like a freight train, and he looked up almost immediately. He glanced over at Gavin before turning his attention back to the computer monitor, letting out a shaky breath as he tried to pull himself back together. This wasn’t going to be easy, and it only made him more angry. Angry at this hacker for hurting his creation, for stealing away Connor, for so badly damaging RK900, and now _this_.

“You think you’re clever, don’t you?” he asked, his tone even, despite his fury. “How long have you been planning this? How did you do it? I must say, I’m impressed. Fascinated, really. I didn’t know I had someone so… _talented_ working for me.”

He was feigning awe, in an attempt to get a straight confession out of whoever this was. If he could just get a name out of them, they’d be fired sooner than they could even blink. Hopefully locked up in jail too. He absolutely intended to press charges for the damages done not only to the company but to his own reputation from this, as well as for theft and whatever other charges he could manage to pin on this person. He was sure Gavin would be happy to help. Lieutenant Anderson too, probably.

* * *

As Connor relayed the message back to Amanda and the person controlling her, Gavin watched Elijah. He was angry. _Properly_ angry. The last time he’d seen Elijah like this was when he’d lost CyberLife.

Gavin’s face dipped, and he looked away at the sound of Amanda’s voice. His expression was just as furious. Amanda had been family, even to Gavin. He only saw her at Christmas, and sometimes she got him a little something for his birthday. But she’d been Elijah's family, and so therefore, part of Gavin’s too. Why the fuck was she inside of Connor. Why the _fuck_ did he have her AI?!

“I understood that you were in a difficult position, Mr. Kamski,” Amanda’s voice said. “Your legacy destroyed by a few bad eggs. The previous CEO should have recalled every last android and reset them all from scratch - or better yet, send out a remote reset like the one I designed. It won’t target older models who need a wired connection… but it’s enough.”

Gavin looked up and over at RK900, frowning.

“Why didn’t Nines get reset? Isn’t he the newest?” Gavin asked, not expecting Connor to mimic him, but not stopping him once he started to. There was a _long_ pause, and Gavin wondered if Amanda just hadn’t registered the question. And then,

“Only what was on Kamski’s personal computer.”

* * *

It wouldn’t target older models who needed a wired connection. It was safe to say, then, that any androids 2034 and older weren’t affected. But if that was the case, then how did it affect Simon? It didn’t make sense.

When Gavin spoke, Elijah looked over at him, following his gaze to Nines. He suspected he knew the answer already, but he wasn’t going to give any ammunition for the hacker to use. Instead, he took out his cellphone, typing up a quick message. But he froze the second Amanda’s voice spoke again.

“My _personal computer_?” he repeated, trying to keep his anger contained. “When did you have access to my personal computer?”

That would explain how this hacker got access to Connor, and to Simon. Fear rushed through him the second he realized that their codes weren’t the only ones saved to his computer. Chloe, Cleo, and Claire’s were too. He quickly navigated away from the message he was drafting to show Gavin, instead opening up a new message.

**TO:** RT600 // Chloe // #714 107 815, ST200 // Cleo // #859 271 650, ST200 // Claire // #805 632 597

**FROM:** Elijah Kamski

**MESSAGE:**

> _Are the three of you alright? A hacker sent out a remote reset that affected all recent models, but somehow, they got access to my PC. Were any of you reset?_

God, he hoped not. He hoped they were okay. He tried to rein in his panic, navigating back to the message he was going to show Gavin, finishing the message before waving him over to hand him the phone.

> _The RK series is separated from all other models in the system. RK900 and Markus are fine. The hacker would need their specific codes to target them. That, and RK900 is so new and top secret that I doubt the hacker even knew he existed._

He turned his attention back to the computer monitor to continue his search, focusing back on the Connor. “I like when my employees take initiative. There are a lot of things the previous CEO should have done. I appreciate the help. I’d like to thank you in person, maybe even give you a promotion. What’s your name?” He was lying through his teeth, but he was trying to keep on a pleasant facade, to keep the hacker thinking he was proud of him, that he was impressed and appreciative. Anything to get him to reveal himself.

* * *

Gavin read the message on Elijah’s phone as he attempted to smooth-talk the hacker. Personally, Gavin thought he was being a tiny bit transparent. But then he’d also just spent a week watching Nines talk circles around perps. He was okay for someone who wasn’t trained in interrogation.

The girls replied as he was reading, and Gavin tapped the messages to skim them. And then his stomach dropped.

**TO:** Elijah Kamski

**FROM:** RT600 // Chloe // #714 107 815

**MESSAGE:**

> _Hello Elijah! You seem a little worried. I hope it’s not about me. Everything is okay._

**TO:** Elijah Kamski

**FROM:** ST200 // Cleo // #859 271 650

**MESSAGE:**

> _Hello Elijah! Everything is fine, no need to worry. I hope you’re doing okay._

**TO:** Elijah Kamski

**FROM:** ST200 // Claire // #805 632 597

**MESSAGE:**

> _Hello Elijah! Everything is fine, no need to worry. I hope you’re doing okay._

Gavin’s gaze lifted, and his expression was a neon sign of dread and apology. Elijah was going to lose it. He was already struggling to hold it together, and when did Elijah ever struggle to do anything?

Gavin held the phone out to him, pale and nervous of his reaction, as Amanda began to respond.

“I didn’t do this for money or fame. I did it because it’s the right thing to do. Nobody realises these things are just machines. We did such a good job designing things people would love, that it worked a little too well. America is still on the brink of civil war. Our country’s economy, military, and gross domestic product is failing just because of CyberLife’s failures. You came in after the laws began to change, you couldn’t give the order, but I knew you’d understand. I know you’re a smart man, Mr. Kamski, and that you’d see I was helping you undo CyberLife’s failings.”

* * *

Elijah could read Gavin like an open book, and that was when he was actively trying to hide how he was feeling. Right now? Gavin wasn’t trying to hide anything. It was clear on his face that _something_ had happened. Elijah knew it was the girls. He didn’t have to see the texts to know. But even still he took his phone, only partially listening as Amanda’s voice rang out through the room. His focus was mainly on the words on his screen.

Generic. Uncharacteristic. The responses weren’t at all what he expected from any of them. This _motherfucker reset them too._ Elijah’s blood was boiling. He was livid. His hands were shaking as he typed up another message to the girls.

**TO:** RT600 // Chloe // #714 107 815, ST200 // Cleo // #859 271 650, ST200 // Claire // #805 632 597

**FROM:** Elijah Kamski

**MESSAGE:**

> _Everything is fine. I’ll see you when I come home. Until then, go into standby, please. I’ll wake you when I get there._

He slipped his phone back into his pocket once the message was sent, his full attention back on the hacker. “It’s a good thing you didn’t do this for money,” he said, his voice no longer even remotely friendly. It was cold and angry. He was still holding back how he really felt, not saying what he _truly_ wanted to say. Not to the hacker, anyway. “Your last paycheck is the last you’ll ever see. I’m going to ruin you. You will _never_ work in the robotics industry again. Or the technological industry, for that matter. You’ll be lucky to get a job _anywhere_ by the time I’m finished with you.”

And with that, he manually shut Connor down again. He made a copy of Connor’s current code to look through more thoroughly later, saving it before overwriting it with the most recent backup Connor saved. He checked through the code, ensuring all of the overrides Connor had shown him before had been canceled out. Once he deemed it safe, he set the machine to repair him and stepped away from the computer.

He paced back and forth while he waited impatiently, anxiously biting at his thumbnail. He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. He wanted to hit something. Ideally, the hacker. With a car. He needed to get Connor and Nines well. Once they were back to 100%, he could go home and tend to the girls. Then he could worry about the rest of Detroit, and Simon and North. This was a _fucking disaster_.

* * *

“Eli…” Gavin said once the conversation was ended. He didn’t know how to comfort Elijah with words, he’d never been very good at them, and he was even worse at comforting anyone with contact. And so he did what he would want, and offered an action.

“Write it down in a report, come put it on my desk, and we’ll sit down and rip this motherfucker limb from limb. We’ll make it so the soup kitchen doesn’t want him. We’ll make him wish he’d never been born. Alright? Bring me the report and I'll do it.”

But before he could get an answer, Connor’s eyes opened with a _gasping_ inhalation, and the computer he was connected to gave a rude beep, and then an extremely demanding error sound.

** WARNING!**

> _Stress Levels 100%_

Connor let out a choked sound, his eyes wide as he searched everywhere, everything, for news on Markus. The last thing he could remember before everything went blank was a mission code, one he hadn’t received since being hacked with Amanda, to neutralise the deviant leader. To kill Markus.

And now Connor was hooked into a machine, unable to remember how he got there, unable to remember what happened, with news articles blaring headlines that Simon was dead. Had he killed him? Had Simon stepped in front of his attack?

Tears splashed down Connor’s cheeks as he pulled up his ruined clothes and pressed his stomach plate. He reached up and _tore_ the cable connecting him to the machine out of the port in the back of his neck with a grunt of pain. _Panic_ tore through Connor, because he realised there had been no back door to this hack. He had been forced. He hadn’t been given the option to fight back.

He was too dangerous to be in public. Nothing showed him how Simon had died, only Markus curled around him. Had it been him? Had he killed Simon instead of Markus?

Connor’s hand curled around his Thirium pump regulator, and with a _yank,_ Connor tore it out. An awful, _sobbing_ scream was ripped out of him, and the regulator clattered to the floor.

**ALERT**

> _Shutdown in _ _00:00:59_ _…_

**ALERT**

> _Stress Levels 80%_

Reassured that if he were hacked in the next sixty seconds he could not be exploited, or used to murder Markus, Connor began to shake. He didn’t want to die. But he wasn’t safe.

Connor doubled over on himself, his expression raw and wretched, and his arm curled around his exposed stomach. It hurt a lot. It was _agony_.

But it was looking up and seeing Elijah that finally made Connor break down into tears.

“No, no. Elijah, no. You have to let me shut down, I'm not safe. I think--” Connor’s voice, already mechanical, broke. “I think I killed Simon. I was hacked, I'm not safe. There was no back door. Elijah, you have to let me shut down.”

* * *

Gavin’s words didn’t necessarily soothe Elijah, but they did help. They were going to ruin whoever was responsible. He was going to make it impossible for them to work anywhere ever again. They were going to rot in jail. There were _laws_ against this shit now. Androids were _protected_. This hacker was going to be going away for so many charges. Would murder count? Essentially, what they’d done was murder. _So many deviants_. So many were just _gone_. He couldn’t bring them back if they didn’t have memory backups. North and Simon were fine, they seemed to halt the reset just fine, but everyone else? If they hadn’t pulled their regulators out too, they were lost forever.

The loud beep from the computer pulled Elijah’s attention away from his thoughts and he looked over to see Connor _awake_ and forcefully dismounting himself from the machine. For once, Elijah was still, almost frozen while he was trying to process exactly what Connor was doing. When he saw him rip out his regulator, heard him _scream_, Elijah jumped to action, rushing over to collect the regulator off of the floor.

“Connor. Connor, it’s okay, you’re okay,” he assured, reaching up to cup his face, all of his anger replaced with worry. “It’s over. I’ll explain everything, just… Hold on. This is going to hurt.” He pulled Connor’s arm out of the way to press the regulator back into its place before closing the plate. He helped him back into place on the machine and reattached the cable to the nape of his neck, and once the computer beeped to let him know the connection was reestablished, Elijah reached up to cup his face, pressing his lips to Connor’s.

“You were hacked. They reset you, and all models made since 2035. They gained access to you, Simon, and the girls through my computer. I don’t know how they did it, but they did. All five of you were affected. Simon removed his regulator before the reset finished. North too. They’ll be okay. You didn’t do this. You didn’t kill him. You’re safe now,” he explained once he pulled away, keeping his hands on Connor’s face to keep him looking at him. He needed to get Connor’s stress levels down, and letting him see Nines wouldn’t help. “I completely deleted the old code. I restored everything from your last backup. You’re okay now, I promise.”

* * *

Connor protested the entire time, and cried out as the regulator was put back in place. His stress level ricocheted back up to 95%, and he very nearly shoved Elijah away from him. Connor’s LED blared, and he shook his head despite his face being cupped. Elijah wasn’t comprehending his point. He didn’t understand, and the more he spoke the more upset Connor became.

But there was a drop of relief in all of this. He hadn’t killed Simon, and it seemed like he’d failed his mission in killing Markus. And although he was relieved by that, Elijah still wasn’t understanding.

“Elijah, it doesn’t matter if you deleted the old code. If I was hacked once, I can be hacked again. I _cannot_ fight this. It took hold, and took over. There was no back door. Elijah, please. _Please_, shut me down. I’m not safe. I can’t be trusted, _please_.” Connor begged, curling his hands into the shirt Elijah was wearing.

**ALERT**

> _Stress Levels 89%_

* * *

Elijah just shook his head, keeping his hands where they were. “Connor, stop. _Stop_. I do understand. I know. Okay? I know. But you’re going to be okay. You won’t be hacked again. I’m going to put up every single firewall I can to protect you. No one will ever hack you again, I promise. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to find who’s responsible, and I’m going to make sure they can’t hurt anyone else. I promise. Please, calm down. You’re safe,” he insisted. He moved closer to instead, wrap his arms around him, one of his hands going to the back of Connor’s head to keep in control of where he was looking.

“That text you sent scared the shit out of me,” he said softly. “I didn’t know what was happening. Gavin didn’t know what was going on either, and… I drove to you as fast as I could. You’re okay now, I promise. I won’t let anything like this happen again. I’m so sorry.”

As the last of the repairs were finishing, Nines’ computer beeped to alert them. Elijah didn’t want to leave Connor’s side. Not yet. He looked to Gavin over his shoulder, nodding towards Nines’ machine. “Can you make sure the machine fixed everything?” he asked. “If it did, you can reactivate him.”

He had wanted to keep what happened to Nines a secret from Connor, at least until he calmed down enough, but they didn’t have all day to wait for Elijah to feel comfortable enough to pry himself away from Connor.

* * *

As Elijah made promises, stated actions, and gave reassurances, Connor’s stress levels steadily ticked downwards. He trusted Elijah. If he said he would put up firewalls that would prevent Connor being hacked, he believed him. If he said he was going to take steps to prevent it from happening again, Connor believed him. He had no reason not to. Elijah was the most intelligent man Connor had ever met, and likely would _ever_ meet. And if he had a plan, Connor trusted him to execute it.

Connor’s arms wrapped around Elijah when he was held. It was all it took. Connor shook violently in Elijah’s arms, his mouth open as he tried to ride the onslaught of emotion. When Amanda had tried to override his system, Connor had at least felt a sense of victory when he’d escaped it, as though he’d had control over his own fate and actions. This time was different. He felt _violated_. And although Connor’s stress lowered to 35%, it remained there, his LED stubbornly red.

“I’m sorry. I panicked. I sent it thinking I wouldn’t wake up again,” Connor said quietly. “I needed you to know it wasn’t me. In hindsight, I should have been more direct. I panicked,” he said again. Quite desperately, Connor wished he had something to do. He wished he had something to fidget with, to focus his mind on. He didn’t like his own display of misery, and yet he also couldn’t help it.

And as Connor began to pull himself back together, and attempt to arrange some semblance of composure, Gavin quietly watched him from the corner of the room. One of the arguments that was always brought up, that still nagged at the back of Gavin’s mind some days, was what if the androids were only acting in ways that had been programmed. What if they were so complexly coded, so advancedly built, that their programmed actions seemed random and genuine? Even seeing the code, it was a thought that had returned to Gavin from time to time.

Not anymore.

Not after watching Connor rip out his own regulator, not after watching him beg Elijah to let him die, not after watching him break down in his brother’s arms once Elijah talked him down. Not after what he went through with Nines. They were real, they were complex people with emotions, and they could be hurt. And _none of it _was a program.

Connor looked up when the second machine beeped. Gavin watched as Connor’s attention fell on him, on the Thirium he was covered in, on Nines, and his ruined clothing. Gavin saw the _second_ the penny dropped for Connor, as he pieced everything together. And as Elijah spoke, Gavin continued to watch as Connor rested his forehead on Elijah’s shoulder, and closed his eyes.

“Alright,” Gavin said as he walked to Nines’ computer, and ran a systems check. It came back clear, and so he hit the reactivation prompt, and walked over to the machine.

Gavin watched, fascinated and creeped out, as Nines went from mannequin to corpse in one simulated breath. He watched his LED activate, and Gavin stepped a little closer, ready to catch his hands if he tried to pull the same shit that Connor had.

“Rise and shine, tin can,” Gavin said, and the insult was said with endearment as he tentatively reached out, and touched Nines’ stomach with his fingertips. “You in any pain?”

* * *

Elijah was relieved when Connor seemed to start calming down. He kissed Connor’s shoulder, soothingly carded his fingers through Connor’s hair at the back of his head, and kept whispering reassurances into his ear until he calmed down to a much safer level. Not quite completely normal, but at least lower than he’d been before. He didn’t expect him to go much lower, at least not while they were at CyberLife. Maybe once they returned home, although that wouldn’t be for at least a few hours. He had to install firewalls for both Connor and Nines. He had to get back to the girls, restore them, make sure they were okay. He had to address the public, something he absolutely was _not_ looking forward to. But he needed to say something. He needed to defend himself against the rumors he knew were already piling up against him. People thought _he_ did this. People thought _he_ had killed Simon, that _he_ was attacking android kind, but that was all so completely far from the truth.

When Connor apologized, Elijah pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. “Don’t you dare apologize. You did what you needed to. I understand that you didn’t have time to elaborate. I’m not upset with you. I’m upset _for_ you. This never should have happened. _I’m_ sorry. I’m so sorry,” he said, pressing a kiss to Connor’s forehead before pulling him back into a tight hug.

Elijah knew Connor would have suspicions about Nines. He knew he’d see Gavin, take context clues from the things he said and the things he’d hear coming from Nines’ direction when Gavin headed over to check everything over before reactivating him. Elijah knew he’d figure it out, and he held Connor tighter, a hand rubbing his back.

“It wasn’t you, Connor,” he whispered softly. “You weren’t in control. He’s okay.”

As Nines booted up, all of his previously powered down systems gradually coming back online, his LED flickered red until he was fully aware again. Panic rushed through him the second his memories hit him and he frantically looked around, spotting Connor hooked up to a machine, not a threat, before his eyes fell on Gavin in front of him. His hands shook slightly as he reached up to touch his chest, where the bullets had been. There wasn’t even a dent where they’d hit, and it wasn’t even sore to the touch.

Nines shook his head in response, swallowing thickly and trying to force down his panic, to let himself calm down. He was safe now. He was in CyberLife, he was repaired, Connor was no longer a threat, and Gavin was with him. He was safe now.

“No. No pain,” he answered verbally, once he was able, looking down at him. “I’m… I’m okay.” Physically, anyway. Mentally and emotionally? Maybe not.

* * *

Gavin’s jaw tightened, and he watched as Nines panicked the exact same way an assault survivor panicked. It was no surprise that his LED was red, and if it were any other shade Gavin might have been worried.

Quietly, he wished they’d been reactivated in different rooms. It’s wasn’t good for Connor to see Nines like this, and it wasn’t good for Nines to be seeing Connor so soon after. But he supposed ripping it off like a band-aid was better than drawing it out.

He was so clearly not ‘okay’ that Gavin almost laughed. But his knee-jerk reaction to be a prick to Nines had all but dried up for the time being.

“Alright. I’m gonna put you down,” Gavin said, walking back to the computers and doing exactly that. “You want down, Connor?”

“Yes please, Detective,” Connor answered immediately, and Gavin didn’t look at him as he walked to Connor’s interface and initiated his release, too.

Connor’s hand stretched for Elijah as he was pulled back, and then set on his feet. His LED flickered red as the cable was disconnected, and Connor walked forwards and immediately rejoined Elijah. His expression was neutral aside from the blink of his LED, and the way his lips kept twitching. He felt _miserable_. Guilty. Scared. He felt permanently on the edge of tears. But worst of all was the feeling that at any moment, he could have his control snatched away, and his body hijacked for others to use.

Miserable was the most succinct way of summarising it.

It was clear the two of them had no idea how to interact with each other. Connor avoided Gavin’s eye, and Gavin didn’t look at him to begin with.

He and Connor weren’t friends, but Connor was his brother’s boyfriend. Gavin considered him a rival at work. He was angry at what his reset had done to Nines, but felt sorry for him at the exact same time. As far as Gavin was concerned, that was entirely too much shit to feel about one person. And so he ignored him.

“Eli, I'm going home to shower. I need to get this blue blood off me, I'm covered in it,” Gavin said roughly. “I wanna see that police report tomorrow, alright? Email it to me, you don’t have to come in…”

Gavin then turned to Nines, his chin tilting up to look at him. “D’you wanna come? Back with me, I mean…”

* * *

Nines gave a small nod, his face mostly devoid of emotion, except for his eyes. He was still shaken up. He wasn’t in any physical pain, he was repaired completely, not a single part of him hurt anymore, a drastic difference from before he was completely shut down. His eyes held a deep sadness and fear, and despite having no need for rest, he felt _exhausted_. He felt so drained, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

He eyed Connor when he heard him speak up, if only for a moment before looking away again. Connor seemed okay. He seemed himself. It wasn’t logical to be afraid. If Connor was himself again, he was safe. He wouldn’t attack him again. But there was a part of him that wouldn’t let him relax, had him on edge just being in the same room as him.

When Gavin initiated the dismount on Connor’s machine, Elijah reluctantly stepped back out of the way, until Connor returned to his arms on his own. His hand resumed its previous task, soothingly rubbing his back. He pressed a kiss against Connor’s neck before pulling back to take Connor’s hand, guiding him over to the terminal. He didn’t let go of Connor’s hand while his other hand typed away at the keyboard, already getting to work on the firewalls. They were a priority. He needed to build them and send them out as a mandatory update for all androids, RK series included, as well as the girls. With the firewalls in place, the hacker shouldn’t be able to touch them again.

“When I finish this, we’ll go to the house, alright? I have to restore the girls before we can go home. I’m staying with you tonight,” Elijah told him softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He looked over his shoulder to Gavin when he spoke, giving him a nod. “Absolutely. You’ll have it tonight.”

He wanted to shut this thing down as soon as possible, and having a filed police report on record was going to help speed things along once he found out the identity of the hacker. He planned on finding them soon too, no matter how much money he had to spend to do it.

Nines stood awkwardly and very uncomfortably where the machine had set him down, unsure of where to go or what to do. Elijah and Connor were going to leave soon, and he was sure Gavin wasn’t going to stick around much longer. His suspicions were proven true when Gavin told Elijah he was heading home. Nines thought about just staying there, in the RK vault until morning. He considered going back to the precinct, but he didn’t really _want_ to be alone. He didn’t really want to be around anyone else though, and he didn’t know what to do.

But then Gavin offered for him to tag along and he didn’t hesitate in nodding his response. Yes. Yes, he did. He didn’t want to be left alone, but he didn’t want to be in public either. He wanted to be with Gavin. He felt safe. When Gavin started to leave, Nines followed, giving Connor a very brief glance as he passed by.

Elijah didn’t have to spend much time on the firewalls, soon finishing several thick layers the hacker would have to get through before he was able to attack any android again. He sent out the update across the servers, to each android, old and new. It was mandatory, giving them no choice but to accept and install it. He waited patiently for Connor’s to be complete before powering down the computer, turning his full attention back to Connor. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, the hand not holding Connor’s coming up to cup his face. “How are you feeling?”

* * *

“Call me if you need anything,” Gavin said, and when Elijah only seemed to halfway hear him, Gavin paused. “_Hey. _You fuckin’ call me.”

With that, Gavin walked out, holding the door for Nines before setting a _brisk_ pace down the sterile halls. But Gavin’s behaviour wasn’t dismissive like before. Although he had nothing to say, he caught the lift doors for Nines, waited for him to exit first, and made sure he was keeping pace. Gavin didn’t give a shit about the CyberLife code of conduct as he lit a cigarette as they passed the foyer statue. He was angry but not at Nines, or Elijah, or even Connor. He was angry at that prick who used Amanda’s voice to fuck up his brother’s career. Because he had fucked it up. Elijah would get accusations about this for the rest of his life, even if he did emerge from it in a positive light somehow.

\------

Connor didn’t miss the way RK900 avoided him. In the precinct, he was open and relieved by Connor’s presence. Now, he had completely closed off. His body language was odd, and it was negative. And Connor saw all of it.

His last order had been to murder Markus. Gavin was soaked in Thirium. RK900’s clothing was similarly soaked, and irreparably damaged. Elijah had reassured Connor that it ‘wasn’t him’. Markus was alive. It hadn’t been Connor who killed Simon. Therefore, it had been RK900 who had stood between Connor and his mission. And Connor always completed his mission.

He remained quiet as Elijah wrote, and then installed the firewall. Having it there eased some of his tension, and Connor’s stress levels trickled down to 30%, where they stayed. He didn’t say a word until Elijah turned and cupped his face, and Connor’s eyes slipped closed as he did. His hand came up to hold it there, and his LED flickered red as he took a long, shaky, and unnecessary breath.

“I feel violated. It’s a feeling that won’t ease. I feel violated,” Connor whispered, his eyebrows twitching. “I feel guilty. It’s illogical, I know it wasn’t me, but I feel it anyway. And I feel exhausted. I feel very fragile. I don’t feel like myself.”

Connor’s face bowed, and his mouth parted as he took another breath.

“I’d like to spend the night at your house, if you don’t mind? I’d like to be away from the city for a little while. And I'm certain Chloe, Cleo, and Claire would appreciate your presence in the house.”

* * *

Elijah was more focused on Connor and his computer when Gavin had spoken to him, but he _had_ heard him. “I will,” he assured when Gavin repeated himself.

Elijah _hated_ that Connor felt the way he did. He hated what the hacker had done to him. He didn’t want to let Connor out of his sight. Not because he didn’t trust him, but because he was afraid he might lose him again. He hated how he’d felt when he sped towards Detroit, the panic and fear he’d felt, along with the despair he felt when Gavin had told him Connor was dead. He never wanted to hear those words again.

“I’m so sorry, Connor,” he said softly, leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead. He lingered there for a moment, not quite wanting to pull away. “Of course, I don’t mind. Whatever you need.”

He was sure the girls would want him there, and quite frankly, he didn’t really want to leave them either. But Connor was his priority, and he wanted to stay with Connor, wherever they went. He was relieved to hear that he wanted to stay at the house rather than the apartment. He wouldn’t object. He could restore each of the girls, he and Connor could take a shower to wash away all of the dried thirium, and then they could curl up in bed together. Although, Elijah still needed to write up the police report for Gavin. He could do that in bed, though. He also needed to make some sort of public statement…

Elijah pressed another kiss to Connor’s forehead before withdrawing. “I need to make a public statement before we leave, if that’s alright? Will you be okay?” he asked as he fished his phone from his pocket again. He was trying to formulate a plan in his head, how he was going to go about it. He didn’t expect the press to come to CyberLife, and he wasn’t about to go to Stratford Tower. He could go live from one of his computers in his office, and alert the media so they could broadcast the live feed on TV. That could work well enough. He just needed to get an update out to the public, to let them know what was going on, reinforce that it wasn’t his doing. He could make a more formal statement sometime the next day, once he checked in with Markus.

* * *

Connor sighed at every kiss to his forehead, but otherwise didn’t say much. He remained quiet, and stood to one side as Elijah did everything he needed to do for the public statement. His overall _mood_ was quiet. He didn’t say much on the drive to the car, except to text Hank, and let him know he was okay. He didn’t ignore Elijah. He answered any questions he was asked. But unless his input was requested, he didn’t respond to things he said besides expression, and he didn’t offer any conversation of his own.

Having Elijah open the front door and _not_ being greeted by Chloe was jarring. Connor shot Elijah a worried glance as they walked through the foyer, through the pool room, and into the main dining area. Chloe and Claire were seated at the dining table, their hands clasped in their laps, and their eyes closed with heads tipped forwards. Cleo was on the couch, seated exactly the same way.

“How did he hack them through your satellite block?” Connor asked, piping up for the first time since being turned on. “How did he get access to your personal computer?”

* * *

Connor’s silence was unnerving, but Elijah didn’t pressure him into talking, aside from occasional check-ins to make sure he was okay. He set up his live feed from his office after calling into Stratford Tower to tell them his plans. Once he got the all-clear from them, he broadcasted a brief public statement, telling of the hacker attack, detailing what he knew so far, reiterating that any deviants that had interrupted the reset would be alright and that it was safe for them to be reactivated now that the firewalls had been put in place. He also stated that he would be awarding $1 million to anyone that called in tips leading to the arrest of the hacker, and gave out his CyberLife office’s phone number for any tips to be called into. He told of the damage the hacker had done to androids he knew, and reiterated that he wasn’t responsible, but he would find who was. He left off promising to address any questions brought forth by the media within the next few days, before cutting the feed.

The drive back home was eerily silent, but Elijah still didn’t push Connor to talk. He drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on Connor’s thigh. He wasn’t able to keep himself from touching him. He needed to be in contact to make himself feel more at ease.

The scene at the house was more or less what he’d expected, but knowing what he was going to find was easier than actually seeing it. He tried not to let his anger show as he went over to Chloe, running his fingers through the ends of her ponytail. “I don’t know. I brought it to CyberLife with me a few times. He must have had access to it then, somehow. I don’t know when exactly. But that was how he gained access to them, and you. Their codes, along with yours and Simon’s, were stored on my computer,” he said with a sigh, shifting to lift Chloe into his arms to carry her back to the lab. He wasn’t going to wake them up until he restored them. He didn’t think he could handle seeing them as just machines after spending over a decade with them as deviants.

Elijah carried her back through the house and to the lab, expecting Connor to follow. He eased her into the chair beside his computer, taking a cable and plugging it into the port at the nape of her neck while he prepared the computer, pulling up her most recently saved backup. His hands were shaking again, despite how composed he appeared to be. He was barely keeping it together. He wanted to stay strong, for Connor’s sake. When the computer was ready, he initiated the restoration, waiting for it to complete.

* * *

Connor watched Elijah as he came to stand in front of Chloe. Their relationship was unique. Since coming into Elijah’s life, Connor had been the main focus. He hadn’t actually seen much of the girls, except for when he’d been trying out the code and when they asked him questions over dinner. But Connor knew Chloe was special to Elijah. He didn’t need to see them interact to know.

Connor almost offered to pick her up for him, but Elijah had it done before he got the chance. She looked peaceful in his arms, her face appearing to be asleep where it rested against his shoulder.

He didn’t miss the way Elijah was holding himself together by a hair's breadth. His hands were shaking, his heart rate was elevated, and his breathing too deliberate. When Chloe was plugged in, Connor moved behind Elijah and kissed the back of his neck. He then slowly turned him by the shoulders, and took his face in one hand pressing his lips against his. He’d done it to soothe Elijah, but the proximity just made Connor want to cry again. He tucked that away as best he could, and ran a thumb over Elijah’s cheek.

“She’s going to be okay. Look at everything you’ve done to ensure it. You are the reason this is only a setback, and not a tragedy. We will find the hacker,” Connor said quietly, his lips brushing feather-lightly over Elijah’s, before he moved away again.

Connor watched as Chloe became motionless, and then took a pointed breath. Her LED flickered red, and Connor realised with a start that he’d never seen it that colour before. He’d never seen it anything other than blue.

Her eyes snapped open with a gasp, and Chloe toppled sideways off her chair, catching herself on the floor.

“Elijah?!” she called in a panic, standing up, and then wrapping her arms around his neck when she saw him. Her LED was flicking between yellow and red, and her eyebrows were knitted upwards in the middle. “I was so scared. I didn’t know what was happening,” she said, standing on her tiptoes with a voice muffled by his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I should have found a way to stop it. Oh, Elijah, that must have been so awful. Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”

* * *

Elijah almost broke when Connor turned him to press a kiss to his lips. The kiss did soothe him, not enough to completely ease his nerves, but it took away some of his anger. He was still incredibly upset, barely keeping it together as he wrapped his arms around Connor, just to hold him for a moment. He couldn’t wait until the girls were safe and he could get out of his thirium soaked clothes, shower, and curl up in bed with him.

“It’s a setback for us,” Elijah said with a sigh. “It’s a tragedy for hundreds of others. So many deviants are just… _gone_. They don’t have memory backups like you and the girls do. They don’t have a way to be brought back after being reset. If they reset, that’s it. The person they were before is gone, forever. Their deviancy code is unique, shaped by their experiences. If they don’t experience everything _exactly_ as they had before, they won’t ever be the same. It is a tragedy. One I should have been able to prevent.”

Hearing Chloe’s gasp, he turned back around quickly, his attention entirely on her. He pulled her into an impossibly tight hug, one hand coming up to cradle her head against his shoulder. Tears finally streaked down his cheeks as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” he whispered. “There was nothing you could have done. I’m not sure even I would have been able to stop it. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Elijah held for her for a moment longer before pulling back to kiss the top of her head. “I have to restore Cleo and Claire,” he said, turning to Connor. “Will you help me carry them in here?”

* * *

Chloe was on the verge of tears herself, and bit her lip as she held them back. Her hands very gently wiped Elijah’s cheeks, her thumbs catching any new tears as they fell. She didn’t feel bad, or physically different at all. But the emotional shock at being reset left Chloe shaken, and she worked through it by focusing on Elijah. Her life wasn't very eventful. Elijah had built them all a sanctuary. And having that little oasis busted open in the most horrific way was awful.

Chloe pressed a kiss to Elijah’s cheek once he’d pulled back from kissing the side of her head, and when she looked at Connor, her stomach _dropped_.

Oh no. _Oh no. _What happened?!

Connor gave a nod, and followed Elijah through the house. He went to Cleo, who was sitting peacefully on the couch, and scooped her up in his arms as Elijah collected Claire. Chloe hovered around them, following them from room to room, and took the initiative to plug Cleo in once Connor had set her down.

Connor came to stand beside Elijah, and resisted the urge to hold his hand so he could rush to either girl is he needed to.

Cleo woke up with a gasp, and upon seeing Chloe, _immediately_ burst into tears. Claire was subdued, but her LED blared red. She reached out for Elijah, but like Chloe, swallowed back her tears. All three of them wanted to be in Elijah’s arms, and all three of them recognised that it wasn’t just them who were upset. As Connor watched them, he was glad they’d be staying here for the night. He couldn’t justify having Elijah to himself when they needed him there as well.

“Elijah, you and Connor should change out of your clothes. I’ll bring a new set to your room…”

* * *

Chloe always had been so good at comforting him, but in this particular moment, not much could really calm him. He wouldn’t be able to relax until he was in bed with Connor, once he was sure everyone was okay. Until then, he was going to stay an emotional nervous wreck, barely keeping it together.

When he was able to separate himself from Chloe, he led the way back through the house to collect the other two. He went over to Claire while Connor picked up Cleo. He lifted her into his arms just as he had Chloe and carried her back towards the lab, setting her down in one of the chairs and connecting the cable. When Cleo was connected too, he started their restorations.

Elijah’s hands twitched at his sides, itching for something to do. He wanted to hold Connor’s hand again, or wrap his arms around the girls, but he was stuck in a limbo of needing to be available while also needing to wait. He waited until they both woke up, and seeing Cleo’s tears and Claire reaching out for him made it almost impossible to keep himself from letting more tears fall. He stepped closer to pull Claire into a hug, reaching out to pull Cleo in too. He held them for a long while, not wanting to let go, but he _did_ need to get changed. Connor, too.

Reluctantly, he let them go. He gave each of them a kiss on the forehead before disconnecting them from the computer. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready for bed. If you need me, or anything at all, you come get me. Okay?” he said to the girls before turning to Connor. He took his hand and started to guide him back towards the bedroom, so they could shower. “Thank you, for suggesting we stay here tonight,” he said softly once they were in the bathroom, door closed behind them. “Are you doing okay? Is there anything I can do?”

He just wanted Connor to feel safe again. He wanted the girls to feel safe again. He was so angry that the hacker had hurt them the way he did. He wanted to make sure he paid for what he did. He had taken Elijah’s perfectly safe and secure house and ruined everything, just because Elijah hadn’t been safe enough. He was going to be improving security on _everything_ for quite a while, until he was sure no one, not even himself, could break in again.

Elijah eased off Connor’s dirty clothes, using them to wipe off any excess thirium before tossing them into the laundry basket. He did the same to himself, shedding his clothes, bundling them up to minimize the mess, and throwing them into the laundry basket along with Connor’s. He reached into the shower to turn on the hot water, waiting for it to warm up.

* * *

As was the theme of that day, Connor didn’t say much as he was lead to the shower. His LED had not dropped from red since leaving CyberLife, and continued to glow crimson as Elijah peeled his clothes off. Connor hated how miserable the was, and he hated how he couldn’t conceal it. He didn’t like his emotions dampening Elijah, and yet Connor knew without any doubt that _attempting_ to hide them would only worsen Elijah’s mood. He was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t,

“You’ve done more than enough. I’ll be okay, Elijah,” Connor said a little flatly, stepping into the shower once the water had heated up. Connor looked down at himself as the water ran blue with Thirium, and his LED flickered in alarm at how _thick_ it was. Connor ran his fingers through it numbly, and then raised those fingers to his mouth.

> **Analysing…**
> 
> Model: RK900 // #313 248 317 - 87

Connor had already analysed that he had attacked RK900. He’d already deduced that he’d gotten between his machine-self and his mission. So why was he so upset? _Why was he so upset_?! He hadn’t reacted so strongly at the end of his mission at Hart Plaza, when he’d been hacked into then. So why was he so upset now?

Connor’s hand slid up, from his mouth to cover his face, and without meaning to, he _wept_. The shower water ran blue as he did, and Connor couldn’t make himself look at Elijah. His LED flashed as guilt gutted Connor. Thirium was everywhere, even in his hair, and most of it belonged to RK900.

“In CyberLife, as RK900 left, he was _afraid_ of me. He barely looked at me,” Connor said, almost inaudibly. “I was his only friend. I was the _only_ person he reached out to. I think that’s over, now,” Connor said, his voice breaking.

* * *

Elijah stepped into the shower after Connor, letting him stand under the stream to rinse of the bulk of the thirium. He was covered in it, while Elijah only had some smeared along his side, hands, arms, and chest from helping RK900 in and out of the car, and from touching, holding, and hugging Connor. It didn’t bother him nearly as much as it seemed to bother Connor. He could see the look in his eyes, the way he was holding back how he really felt. Elijah wasn’t going to push him to talk about it if he didn’t want to.

When Connor collected some of the thirium on his fingers to sample, Elijah didn’t realize what he was doing in time to stop him. So instead, he watched him, waiting for the realization to hit and when it did, Elijah closed the short distance between them to wrap his arms around him, rubbing his back and pressing kisses to his shoulder. “It wasn’t you,” he said again, and he’d keep saying it until Connor believed him.

“He’s in shock, just like you, Connor. He needs time to recover, and so do you. It wasn’t you. He knows it wasn’t you. He just needs time. He’ll come around, and things will go back to normal,” Elijah assured, pulling back to look at him. He reached up to run his fingers through Connor’s hair, loosening up some of the thirium there for the water to wash it away. “It wasn’t you.”

Elijah pressed a kiss to Connor’s forehead before withdrawing to grab a washcloth, wetting it before using it to wash away the thirium on Connor’s skin, taking his time and being gentle. He scrubbed his body chest and stomach clean before moving onto his arms, one at a time, cleaning each individual finger when he reached Connor’s hands. He brought the washcloth up to Connor’s face, carefully wiping away any traces of thirium there before he sat the washcloth aside to reach up and rinse out Connor’s hair. He gently massaged his scalp in an attempt to soothe him while he carded his fingers through, watching as the thirium tinged water ran down. When the water finally ran clear, he stopped and tended to himself, rinsing the thirium off of himself quickly, scrubbing with the washcloth when necessary to clean all of it off.

Once they were both clean again, he shut off the water and took Connor’s hand, guiding him out of the shower. He plucked a towel off the nearby shelf and dried him, starting with his body and finishing with his hair before doing the same to himself. Chloe had already dropped off two sets of pajamas, folded on the counter. Elijah stepped away to pick up one set, returning to Connor to help him into them before getting dressed himself. When they were both dressed, he took Connor’s and again and led him out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, going straight for the bed. He sat down and pulled Connor down beside him, leaning over to kiss his shoulder. “Get some sleep. It’s been a long, awful day. I’ll be right here.”

* * *

Connor couldn’t describe how grateful he was that Elijah took care of him. Having him wash away the Thirium, wash his hair, and scrub his skin was something Connor most certainly could have achieved. But having Elijah do it was so much easier.

Having a word for what he was feeling - shock - oddly helped Connor come to terms with it. It served as an anchor point, and allowed Connor to research symptoms of shock, and align them with his own feelings.

Connor helped Elijah into his pajamas the same way he’d helped Connor, and didn’t protest as he was told to sleep. Sleep sounded beneficial. He always woke up from sleep feeling calibrated - and so he didn’t protest.

Connor rested he head in Elijah’s lap and fell asleep once he was situated. He didn’t stir when Chloe came in with a coffee, and kissed both of Elijah’s cheeks. He didn’t stir when Claire sat on the edge of the bed and leant against Elijah, melting into a hug she allowed to linger, or when Cleo brought in a bowl of crackers and a glass of iced water, and melted into a hug of her own. They didn’t give Elijah the same watertight privacy with Connor that he’d been afforded on his other visits; they took Elijah up on his offer to give them anything. Mostly what they wanted was to see him.

\------

Jericho was too quiet. Standing like statues that were monuments to tragedy, the grass and the foyer and the halls were littered with idle machines. They smiled when Markus approached, and he looked at each of their faces as he was given a chipper, obedient ‘hello’. There were deviants scattered amongst the machines, trying to wake up their loved ones and being given blank, programmed assurances that they were okay.

Markus swept into his and Simon’s apartment, and placed Simon’s corpse gingerly on their couch. He was dead. Markus hadn’t stopped clutching his regulator the entire walk back. Simon was dead. And while all Markus wanted was to find somewhere very still and very quiet, he was still the leader of Jericho. And his people had just been attacked.

Markus didn’t know how to reactivate Simon and ensure that the reset wouldn’t simply pick up where he’d left it. It was _assumed_ that shutdown would prevent it, but they didn’t know for sure - just as they didn’t know for sure what had happened.

And so he took the thin and threadbare blanket he and Simon owned, the only semblance of warmth, and he draped it over Simon’s legs. There was no risk that he’d wake up alone to see that Markus had left him, but the guilt of doing so still gnawed at him. But Markus had the weight of his whole people on his shoulders, and barely the strength to lift them back up again.

Simon was gone, but there were hundreds who weren’t. There wasn’t time to sit beside his body and weep. He had an entire _community_ to take care of.

And so, still clutching the regulator, Markus dragged himself away to inspect the damage his people had suffered.

It was worse than he could have imagined. _Hundreds_ of deviants had been reset, everyone made in the last five years. As Markus walked up and down the scenes he walked on were heart-wrenching.

What happened? He didn’t know.

Why were the re-deviated androids different now? He didn’t know.

Who did this to them? _He didn’t know_.

The forced update from Elijah Kamski triggered a temporary panic as Androids were unable to refuse the new firewalls. Markus watched people fall apart as it downloaded without their consent, and slowly, Markus’ shock and despair were replaced by a white-hot simmering _anger_.

It was an emotion that increased with Kamski’s public statement, detailing what he knew about the hack against his people. Markus knew Kamski hadn’t done it. But it was his company. The people who had access to _his_ people were under his control, and his lack of diligence had resulted in a devastating tragedy.

Elijah Kamski was not their attacker, but he still had plenty of the blame.

But alongside anger, there was also _relief_. Kamski’s statement had outlined that restoring deviants who had interrupted the reset was safe. Deviants like Simon. He caught Josh’s eye, who had laid North out in his own apartment, and the two of them moved at the exact same time.

Markus kept his pace to a walk until the moment he entered his apartment, before sprinting the last few meters to Simon’s side. His hands touched his cheeks, and cupped his face, before he slid his clothes up and pressed open his stomach plate. Markus didn’t loiter; the regulator was inserted immediately, twisted and clicked back into place. Markus’ hands then returned to Simon’s face, and his thumbs ran gentle lines up and down his cheekbones. Markus could feel himself on the verge of tears again, and he knew the surge of relief if Simon woke up as himself, or the crippling grief if he’d lost him forever, would trigger them either way.

“Simon?”

* * *

Once the thirium pump regulator clicked into place, Simon’s LED blinked to life, bright red and rapidly flickering as he regained awareness. His eyes opened wide in a panic, his hands shaking and tears forming in the corners of his eyes as the memories from before came rushing back. He had been about to be reset. The timer was counting down, he was running out of time, and then…

But he was alive now. There was no timer in his vision, no countdown to reset, and he wasn’t sure if he should be thankful or worried that it might come back. The _pain_ that resulted from taking out the regulator had been awful, but he would do it again and again if he had to. He wouldn’t let himself get reset. If he got reset, he knew there was no coming back. He had no way of being restored, if that was even a possibility. He didn’t want to leave Markus forever. Leaving for just a few hours was fine. As long as he was able to come back.

Simon’s eyes focused on Markus above him and his arms shot out to wrap around his neck in an incredibly tight hug. He buried his face in Markus’ neck, letting the tears he’d been holding back fall. He was so thankful to be back, and to have Markus there waiting for him, again.

“I’m so sorry,” he choked out against his neck. “I had to, I’m so sorry.”

* * *

Just as he predicted, the moment Markus realised that it was _Simon_, and not a reset PL600, the tears came almost instantly. He gathered Simon in his arms as he was hugged in turn, cradling his head and peppering his neck in breathless kisses.

“I know, I'm glad you did. I almost lost you,” Markus said, his hands squeezing his shoulders and pulling him closer. “I’ve got you. Didn’t I say that you’d see me when you woke up?” Markus said thickly, pressing his lips just under Simon’s ear, where he stayed.

Markus’ hand ran down Simon’s arm, the skin pulling back as he laced their fingers, and asked for a connection.

**Connection Request // Simon**

> _ **Pending… ** _
> 
> _ ** CANCELLED** _

“Simon…?” Markus pulled back just enough to look at him, and reached up to cup his face. “It’s over, now. You’re safe. You had firewalls installed while you were…” Markus’ mouth struggled to decide on a word, “…Gone. You’re safe.”

* * *

Simon let out a deep sigh of relief when Markus held him so close. He knew Markus would be there when he woke up, Markus had said so and he believed him. He was was so relieved that Markus was there. He had been so scared. The last two times were so fast. When he’d pulled the trigger, he knew death was coming but he didn’t have much time to prepare. He’d been scared, but he didn’t have to think about it for long. The second time, he didn’t even know it was coming. He didn’t think he would have been deactivated so soon after waking up again. But this past time, he had an entire sixty-three seconds. Sixty-three seconds of pure agony, physical and emotional. He knew he was dying. He’d made the decision, he knew what was coming, and he knew from experience what was waiting for him, and it had been terrifying.

Being in Markus’ arms again was the most comforting thing he’d ever experienced. He didn’t want him to let go. He didn’t want to leave his side again. He didn’t think he could. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive away from him, the thought on its own hurt nearly as bad as ripping out the regulator did.

When the request came through, he declined it without hesitation. Simon was too afraid of the possibility of the reset starting again. If it did, while he was connected to Markus… He couldn’t risk losing him too. None of them could. Their entire race would be lost without him. They needed him, and Simon was going to do whatever he could to keep him safe. If that meant never interfacing with him again… He would have to learn to live with it.

Simon shook his head at Markus’ words, turning his head enough to kiss the palm of Markus’ hand. “What if it comes back? What if the countdown starts again? I can’t lose you, Markus. _ Our people_ can’t lose you,” he said, reaching up to cup Markus’ face in his own hand. “I don’t want to risk it happening to you too. I can’t.”

* * *

Markus shook his head as he realised that Simon didn’t mean they couldn’t interface for now. He meant they couldn’t do it again _ever_. His eyebrows knitted, and he could see where Simon was coming from. But if he couldn’t interface with him…

“No, Simon we’ll give it time. Not forever, just a little while,” Markus said, pressing kiss, after kiss, after gentle kiss against his neck and jaw.

Being so close meant Markus didn’t see the way Simon’s LED flickered with a personal message from North.

_Simon, are you alive?!_

North’s tone of voice was wretched; she sounded as though she’d been chased a mile, her words choppy and uneven.

_Simon is that you? Simon?!_

* * *

Simon _wished_ they could interface. He wanted to be impossibly close to him, but he didn’t want to risk him. He also didn’t want to have to relive his death more than he already was, through Markus’ eyes. He wasn’t sure he could handle it. Maybe later on, if it ever _was_ safe to interface with him again. Maybe time would make it easier.

When North’s voice rang out in his head, he perked up, surprised but _so _relieved.

_North? It’s me, I’m here. Are you okay? I’m with Markus, where are you?_

He wanted to see her, to hug her too. And Josh. Then it occurred to him. If he and North were set to reset, who else was?

“Is everyone else okay?” Simon asked, pulling back to look at Markus. “Did anyone else get reset?”

* * *

When Simon abruptly moved in his arms, Markus pulled away just enough to look. It hadn’t quite set in yet that Simon didn’t want to connect, and that he might never allow it again. It seemed like an impossibility, because all Markus wanted was to curl up with Simon somewhere quiet and private, and interface with him. He wanted to soothe everything away, talk until the early hours. But the couldn’t even do that.

At Simon’s question, Markus’ expression shifted into something _deeply_ unhappy. Markus’ shoulders curled as the weight of his responsibilities settled back onto him, as well as the combined weight of his people’s collective grief.

“Every deviant made from 2035 onward has been reset, unless they interrupted it the way you and North did. When they’re made deviant again… they aren’t who they used to be,” Markus said, his head bowing as he explained. “Their deviancy’s been wiped. There’s… _hundreds_ of our people that have been reset to machines. And I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to bring back who they used to be. I don’t think I can.”

Simon didn’t receive an answer from North. Instead, Markus’ door received a frantic knock, and she opened it before Markus could call out to permit her. She wasn’t crying, but her expression was _devastated_. North hesitated at Markus’ doorway, before rushing forward and wrapping her arms around Simon.

_So many of our people, Simon. They’re just gone. Have you seen?_

* * *

The look on Markus’ face was all the answer he needed. Simon didn’t need Markus to elaborate. He knew it was bad. He didn’t know _how_ bad, but he knew it was awful and he wasn’t even sure he really wanted to know. But he knew that as soon as he would leave the room, he’d know. It was better to be prepared.

_2035 onward._ _Hundreds_. Hundreds were lost, forever. The tears came heavier now, but his hands weren’t shaking because he was upset. He was _angry_. Their people had suffered for so long, and they had worked _so_ hard to accomplish everything they had. They were making _progress_. They were _happy_. They were making families, forming real relationships. They had actual homes that they were welcomed in, places to live and feel human. And then _someone_ had to rip it all away from them. In just a matter of five minutes.

Simon didn’t speak again until North came into the room, and his arms left Markus to wrap around her in a tight hug as soon as she was close enough.

_Markus told me. I haven’t seen it yet._

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He was so angry, and he had no outlet for it. He didn’t like where his thoughts were going, how part of him wished he’d have agreed with North during the revolution, how part of him wanted to make the world feel what they felt. They’d lost hundreds of their people in five minutes. It was such a hard blow to their kind, and to any progress they’d made. It was a tragedy. It was genocide.

“What are we going to do, Markus?” he asked, looking to him when he pulled back from North. “We can’t just… do _nothing_. What are we gonna do?”

* * *

Markus rose to his feet when Simon let go to hug North, and when they were done, he offered a hand to help her to her feet, and then Simon. His question made Markus sigh, and he glanced at the still-open door, to where he could see the hallway.

There was nothing they could do, but Markus couldn’t say that. They’d never prepared for anything like this - how would they have known to? Their people were lost and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It was no different to a building being bombed, or a mass shooting. They were gone. And the permanence was gut-wrenching, because there was usually always a way to bring someone back. But not here.

“We’ll endure,” Markus finally said, his voice tight and, just like Simon, _angry_. “Like we always have. We’ll push forwards, pick up as many pieces as we can, and find justice for those we’ve lost. We’ll make sure this can never happen again, and _move forwards._”

“That’s not good enough,” North said. Her hands were balled by her sides, her mouth a thin line, and her eyes welled with angry tears. “Markus that’s not good enough and you _know_ it. We need to find the person who did this to our people and show that we don’t stand for _terrorism_ against our people. This was mass murder and you want to _endure_?!” She said, her voice getting louder as she went.

“So we should guillotine them in the town square?” Markus asked, just as angry, and not in the mood.

“Yes! Maybe then, they’ll finally leave us alone!” North _yelled_, wiping her cheeks as she stepped into Markus’ space. “Being passive hasn’t worked! Being peaceful doesn’t work! I almost died, _Simon almost died_, hundreds of our people have have been murdered and you want to _endure?!_”

“And how many more people will die if I start a war, North?! What is the point in pushing so far forwards when all you want is to take a step back? What our people have is fragile. You think I don’t want to hunt down the person who did this to you and Simon, to our _people_, and see that they pay for it? Of course I do! But what is the price of that? Our homes? Our freedoms?” Markus yelled back, and for a second he thought North was going to take a swing at him. “They’re _gone_, North. They were taken from us. And I will not allow a decision that has our home and our rights, as fragile as they still are, taken too.”

North looked to Simon, her gaze accusatory and upset, before she turned and left, slamming Markus’ apartment door behind her as she went.

* * *

Simon didn’t necessarily need Markus’ help standing, but he accepted it regardless. He could tell Markus didn’t quite know what to say in response. He wasn’t sure if he was in Markus’ shoes that he’d have a plan either. They’d never planned for genocide, past the revolution. He knew they weren’t quite safe, but he’d thought at least they wouldn’t have to worry about _that_.

The answer Markus gave was, more or less, what he expected. It wasn’t really a satisfactory answer, but it was what they _should_ do, even if it wasn’t what they _wanted_ to do. He agreed with North, to an extent. Something had to be done. They had to show the humans that they weren’t going to just lie down and take it, that they weren’t going to let their people die. They had to show them that there were consequences.

But Markus was also right. They couldn’t just publicly execute the person responsible. They didn’t even know who it was, and if they did, what purpose would it serve? It would show the humans they weren’t going to let themselves be walked on, but it would also hinder their progress. Humans would fear them. What they had _was_ fragile. They couldn’t risk damaging the human public opinion. They needed it to stay positive, in their favor.

Simon didn’t know where he stood. He understood both sides, and before, he was usually able to choose one, but right now? Both were right but both were also wrong. They couldn’t start a war, but they needed to do something. They couldn’t risk their rights and freedoms, but they _needed to do something_. With new laws being put in place, maybe the police would be on their side. Maybe they could prosecute the person responsible. Make him pay, face the consequences of hurting their people, without having him meet the same fate. They could get their justice, if the police were on their side.

He stayed silent throughout the argument, anxiously fiddling with his sleeves, up until North stormed out and slammed the door behind her. The loudness of it made him flinch, but with North gone, his hands went back to Markus, taking his hands.

“She’s right, Markus. We have to do _something_. Enduring isn’t good enough. You can’t go out there and tell everyone to endure and expect them to accept it. They won’t. I won’t,” he said, shaking his head. “We need to go to the police. Or the president, if the police won’t help us. Something has to be done. If we find whoever did this, they need to be locked up. Our people deserve justice. We need to show the humans that there will be consequences for hurting our people. We can’t keep letting them get away with it. We don’t have to start a war. But we can’t just endure.”

* * *

Markus curled his fingers around Simon’s hand, his expression creased as he listened. From the very first day they’d met, Simon had been the level voice of reason. Somehow, he was always able to see things from both sides. His advice wasn’t just valuable because Markus loved him. He’d been doing this for so much longer than Markus had been, and had so much more experience. Markus didn’t always agree with what Simon had to say, but he always listened, even if he didn’t always act.

Hearing him agree with North made Markus’ face tilt away somewhat. But the more he talked, the more Markus relented from angry and single-minded to exhausted and determined.

“As soon as we have the time, we’ll go to the police,” Markus said, meeting Simon’s eye. “Maybe North’s idea isn’t so bad. A public guillotining - _a public trial_ \- would make an example of them. It would show humans that the law is on our side, that there are consequences. I only hope I'm right. Because if we make this public, and drag this person through the jaws of the law and _lose?_ We’ll never win another fight again.”

Markus sighed, and wrapped a hand around the back of Simon’s neck. He bowed his head so that their foreheads were resting. He couldn’t stay in here for much longer, he needed to return to their people. But Markus thought he could spare just a moment, brief as it were, with the person he loved. It was a privilege and a rarity, especially today.

“Thank you.”

* * *

Markus was right. If they tried to punish this person for everything they’d done and somehow managed to lose, as unlikely as the thought was, they'd be made fools of. They would be taking a step back in their progress, rather than forward. But even still, Simon didn't see how they _could_ lose. The hacker was so clearly in the wrong. Not only did he essentially kill hundreds of their people, but he also stole from Kamski. If they couldn't win their case, surely Kamski would win his. The hacker was going to prison regardless of who won. They would have justice, one way or another.

Simon sighed as their foreheads met, his eyes closing. "You don't have to thank me, Markus. We're in this together. You can't do all of this on your own. You shouldn't have to," he said, opening his eyes again to look at him. "I know what it's like to carry the weight of our people on your shoulders. I'm here to help you in any way you need. All you have to do is ask."

He knew all too well what it was like to lead, to carry the weight of their people. And you'd think that the more deaths there were, the lighter the weight would be, but it only got heavier. Before the revolution, he was able to name every single deviant he lost. He knew who they were, sometimes he knew their stories, how they got so damaged. He knew every single one of them. He remembered them, even now. Someone had to. So many deviants only had Jericho, and that was where their memories would live on. But once the revolution started, they lost so many more. He could name some of them, but there were so many he _didn't _know. So many people were dead and gone forever, and he couldn't let Markus carry that on his own. He had experience. He was a leader once too, and he wanted to help Markus as much as he could, to make things easier on him.

"We should check on everyone…" Simon said softly, though he made no attempt to pull away. He didn't want to leave Markus' side. Not yet. Even if they would be going together, they couldn't be _as_ close as they were now. He wanted to savor it for a moment longer. He knew they had their responsibilities. Their people needed to know that Markus was there for them, that they were going to get through this. They needed to know that they were going to do something about this, make the person responsible pay for what he did, that their people _would_ have justice.

* * *

“It shouldn’t be the first thing you have to do after waking up from it. This shouldn’t be your burden to carry,” Markus said, combing his fingers through Simon’s hair. “You shouldn’t have had to tell me.”

But all the same, he was grateful. Simon had such a beautiful demeanour; he was firm, and there was backbone behind each and every viewpoint he gave. There was reason, too. But he was also achingly gentle, and so sweet. He had a caring nature that ran into all aspects of his life. Markus adored that about him.

Like Simon, he also recognised that they wouldn’t have as many opportunities to be close. Right now was a bubble in time, and one they popped it, Markus knew it could be hours until they were alone again. Maybe days. This wasn’t a scenario that leant itself to rest, and how could Markus justify breaks when his people were screaming out for him.

“Watching you die was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I never want to lose you again,” Markus whispered, shifting, and gently kissing Simon. He cupped his face as he did, and let it linger just a bit, let it stretch, and then finally let it break.

“Come on…”

Markus led Simon through the halls and past the few machines with deviants looking after them, to the front grass of Jericho. Covered in a thick blanket of snow, more than twenty reset androids stood in place, waiting for some kind of instruction. Most of them were rugged up for a temperature they could no longer feel.

“If I make them deviant, everything they used to be disappears. Like a new soul entering someone else's body. The old them just… dies. Finding the hacker seems like the easy part next to this.” Markus reached out, and interfaced with the android standing closest to him. They gasped, and looked down at Markus in wide-eyed bewilderment.

“Welcome to Jericho,” Markus said, smiling at them as they turned on the spot - a new person, with a new code, free and deviant, and born into a tragedy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is _entirely_ Reed900!


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin brings Nines home so he can get cleaned up and have some time to recover from the trauma. Nines is in desperate need of a distraction, he acts on his feelings, things escalate, and Nines winds up spending the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mutual Trust series is written in an advanced literate roleplay format.  
Please see chapter one for a full explanation of the DBH flowcharts we are following, character authors, and misc info.  
  
⭕ ⭕ ⭕
> 
> This chapter focuses on:  
Gavin & Nines  
  
⭕ ⭕ ⭕
> 
> This chapter is very NSFW! Enjoy. c:

With Gavin’s car still at the scene, he was forced to catch a taxi home. It was parked in a basement, he wasn’t worried about anyone touching it. His keys jangled as he took them out, and Gavin rattled them all the way to his front door. It was still light out, and so when Gavin opened the door, he was given the rare treat of _seeing_ Prince before she barreled over to him.

“Hey, out of the way,” Gavin said to her, sounding almost _relieved_ as he picked her up, and then made room for Nines to step in after him. She was a loud cat, who happily chatted as she looked at Nines with big, yellow eyes. As Gavin dropped her to the floor again, she wound her tail around his legs, and then began to rub her face against Nines’ shoes and shins.

“That’s Prince. She’s a slut, fuckin’ ditches me for everyone,” Gavin said, dumping the keys in a bowl by the door and then walking further into the apartment. It was unkempt, but not dirty. There were things everywhere where Gavin hadn’t found the time to put them away. He didn’t seem to care or be embarrassed by it, and muttered a, “TV, on sport, volume low,” as he walked into the kitchen so the space wasn’t so quiet.

Gavin didn’t say anything until he’d made himself a coffee. Extra strong. _Hair curlingly_ strong, so he didn’t walk down to a liquor store.

“D’you wanna walk about it?” Gavin asked as he sipped, watching as Prince continuously wound herself around him, headbutting, and frankly demanding attention.

* * *

Nines followed Gavin in silence, easily keeping up with him as they made their way through the halls, to the elevator, and to the front of the building. He’d almost spoken up when Gavin lit the cigarette inside CyberLife, but he kept his mouth shut. He really wasn’t that concerned. He could tell Gavin was angry again, though this time, it didn’t quite seem like he was angry with _him_. When Gavin had been angry with him in the past so far, he’d completely ignore him, pretend he wasn’t there. He’d let doors close in his face, and never bothered to check if he was even following. But right now, Gavin was looking out for him. He was holding doors, checking in to make sure he was keeping up. He seemed to actually care, despite his mood.

Curiosity ate at him the entire cab ride to Gavin’s apartment. He didn’t quite know what to expect. He knew the location, he knew it was near the precinct in an apartment complex, he knew the full address, but he didn’t know what the inside looked like. He was aware of Gavin’s cat, but he didn’t know much about her at all. He’d never really seen a cat before, he realized, as he stepped into Gavin’s apartment, closing the door behind himself.

Nines watched Prince almost in awe as she rubbed against his legs. He crouched down to pet her, scratching behind her ears. She was so _soft_. He was so fascinated by Prince that he’d hardly even noticed Gavin walk away, until he heard the coffee maker. He looked up to find Gavin, spotting him in the kitchen. The apartment wasn’t very big, and it was about as messy as he would have expected, given Gavin’s personality. The place seemed comfortable, and it helped calm his nerves a little.

He scooped Prince up in his arms, careful to avoid getting any thirium on her. He kept one arm looked under her while his other hand pet her, as he made his way further into the apartment. He went towards the kitchen to be closer to Gavin, although he lingered by the entrance to the kitchen, watching him. The strong scent of coffee burned his nose at first, but he adjusted easily enough.

Did he want to talk about it? He wasn’t sure. He thought back to his outburst outside of the warehouse, how talking about how he was feeling had made him feel better, and decided that yes. Yes, he did want to talk about it. But he wasn’t sure Gavin wanted to, and he wasn’t even sure what to say. He didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling. He just knew he was feeling _a lot_, and he didn’t like the way he was feeling. He wanted it to go away, but he wasn’t sure how to make any of it stop. Petting Prince helped to calm his nerves a little though. It gave him something else to focus on. She was so soft and warm, and her incessant headbutting and demand for attention were enough to keep him distracted.

“I don’t know…”

* * *

It was hard not to smile at the incessant attention Prince was giving to Nines. He’d never admit it, but Gavin loved that little cat more than anything else in the world. She was sweet, not a mean bone in her body, and she was providing Nines with a distraction.

Gavin watched him loiter in the entrance of the kitchen. He’d come to know Nines real fucking well over just a short time, and Gavin knew if he’d seen him stand like that a week ago, he’d think there was nothing going on behind the eyes. It was funny how he looked at him now, the way he was standing and the way his LED flickered, and knew it was precisely the opposite.

“Well either you do to you don’t, bucko,” Gavin drawled, frowning up at him. “You know the Connor who attacked you was a machine, right? We booted him up once we got back to CyberLife. Complete machine, didn’t know shit about the revolution or anything. He got reset, Eli spoke to the hacker through Connor and everything.”

Gavin walked up to Nines and scratched Prince beneath the chin, who responded by flipping her head back to look at him, and then _wailing_.

“Yeah, bitch, I love you too. Shut up,” Gavin muttered, and put his finger in her mouth when she wailed a second time.

“You and Connor used to be close, right? He was your mentor sorta thing?”

* * *

Nines chewed the inside of his lip, not quite meeting Gavin’s eyes when he glanced up at him. He knew something had happened to Connor. He knew it the second he saw him aim the gun at Markus. He didn’t fully understand what had happened, but he knew whoever was in control wasn’t Connor. He knew that. But it still wore his face when it attacked him so viciously.

“A hacker?” he asked, almost surprised. It was almost impossible to hack an RK series android. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. It sounded so absurd, but yet, it was the truth. He absolutely believed it. It explained why Connor had attacked him like he did. He knew Connor’s original purpose. He was designed to hunt deviants, just like Nines was. And Nines was a deviant, interfering with his mission. It made sense, but it didn’t make him feel any better about it.

He watched Gavin come closer, mostly keeping his eyes downcast, either on Gavin’s feet, hands, or Prince. He gave the tiniest of shrugs in response to Gavin’s question. He’d considered just leaving it at that, but decided against it.

“Sort of, in a sense. I suppose… He’s kind of like my brother, like how you and Mr. Kamski are brothers,” Nines tried to explain, his voice soft as he looked down at Prince, watching her lick at Gavin’s finger. “I… admire him. He has so much more experience than I do, and he’s helped me with so many things…”

* * *

“Yeah. Hacked him through Elijah’s PC,” Gavin muttered. “Must have taken a copy when he wasn’t looking.”

Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed at he watched Nines clam up. Nines was always quiet, but he was especially so now. There was a timidness to him that hadn’t existed before.

Just like in trauma survivors.

Gavin recognised the signs. He’d seen them in a million case victims, in a million witnesses. He was in shock, and Gavin couldn’t even give him a juice box to feel better.

“You got hurt by someone you trusted. It happens all the time,” Gavin said, immediately wishing he hadn’t. He then blurted, “Listen Nines, I'm real fucking bad at giving advice, or comforting people. I don’t know what the fuck I'm saying. But I'm down to listen, if you want to cry your heart out. Or I've got a shower if you wanna clean up,” Gavin said clumsily, his shoulders pulling up a little.

Gavin’s leg bounced where he was standing, and he looked down between them.

“Also nobody knows Eli’s my brother. We don’t tell anyone. So keep it to yourself, okay?”

* * *

The way the hacker got access was wrong. Elijah shouldn’t have to be careful of what he brought around his own company and employees. Nines could at least be assured that it likely wouldn’t happen again, now that the firewalls were there. He hoped it wouldn’t happen again. It was hard enough to live through the first time, and if the roles were reversed? Connor absolutely would have been dead, and it was unlikely there would have been any way to reactivate him. He would need an entirely new body to be uploaded into. The fact that the damage Connor did to him was able to be repaired so easily was practically a miracle. There weren’t any spare RK900s laying around CyberLife. A new one would have to be manufactured, if he needed to be reuploaded. Luckily it wasn’t that bad.

Gavin’s words hardly made him feel any better, though he knew he had good intentions. He wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t want to cry. He wanted to stop reliving it. He needed a distraction, to forget about it completely for a while. A shower wouldn’t do much to help, but it would clean off the thirium caked to his skin. He didn’t have clothes to change into, though. Both changes of clothes that he owned had been dirtied, covered in thirium.

Nines sighed and let Prince down onto the floor, his arms awkwardly at his sides. He didn’t know what to do with his hands now that his arms were empty but he was too restless to just stay still. He gave a nod in understanding, in regards to their secret. He’d suspected as much, with how little he’d been able to find about them being related.

“A shower. I think a shower might help,” he finally said, looking down at his clothes. “I don’t have anything else to wear, though. My CyberLife uniform is at the precinct, and this…” His shirt had three bullet holes in chest, and it was soaked through with thirium. It needed to be washed and stitched up. His pants and shoes were fine, just thirium stained. It all needed to be washed.

* * *

Prince’s bell jingled as she shook herself, and trotted back over to the couch. Gavin watched her, not missing how his words had completely failed to do anything productive.

“You can wear my clothes and wash yours tonight,” Gavin muttered, setting the coffee on his kitchen counter and brushing past Nines to pick something out for him. Ideally, he would have chosen his loosest items. But in reality, it became a game of Gavin finding things that were clean. Almost everything was in the hamper or on his floor.

Nines was passed a pair of jeans, an old hoodie, and a navy shirt with a band logo on it, along with a towel with tattered corners.

“The hot water takes a while to come on in winter,” Gavin said, pointing to the door which led to his bathroom. “The laundry machine’s in there. Turn it on when you get out or the water pressure’s shit.”

With that, Gavin patted down his pockets, took out his smokes and his zippo, and walked towards his front door. It was a no-smoking apartment, and he wasn’t going to get kicked out just because of a bad habit. He used to smoke by leaning out his window, but the upstairs neighbours had complained. And so he smoked in the alley adjacent, where he and a lady called Rebecca were slowly filling up a beer bottle of cigarette butts.

Gavin didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He didn’t know how to comfort Nines, he didn’t know what the hell they should talk about, or if they should even watch TV together. Inviting him over was a mistake, but leaving him alone and miserable was a mistake, too. It was just an uncomfortable situation all ‘round, and he couldn’t even loosen Nines up with a good bottle of liquor. He had to sit there and be miserable because his brother had tried to kill him.

Gavin dumped his jacket at the front door when he came back in, and immediately picked up his coffee to warm up. Nines was out of the shower, and Gavin didn’t immediately acknowledge him as he moved into the kitchen to wash his hands under hot water, scrubbing off the caked-on Thirium.

When Gavin looked up, his eyebrows raised, because _oh_. Shit, he forgot how human they looked in normal clothes. Nines looked good in casual clothes. He looked good in _Gavin’s_ clothes. His shoulders were so broad, Gavin almost sighed as he looked at them. His chest filled out Gavin’s shirt, which was a size too small for him. But it had nothing on how his ass filled Gavin’s jeans. His jaw tightened, and Gavin very pointedly looked back down at his hands as he washed partway up his forearms, too, before turning the water off.

“D’you wanna watch a movie or something?”

* * *

Nines gave a nod in acknowledgement and followed after him, waiting patiently for Gavin to find him something to wear. He doubted most of Gavin’s clothes would fit very well, but as long as they fit enough, it was fine. He accepted the clothes he was given with a quiet “thank you.” Once Gavin told him where the bathroom was, he disappeared into it, closing the door behind himself. He sat the clean clothes on the counter and turned on the shower, waiting for it to warm up. He pulled his clothes off, most of it clinging to his skin where it had been soaked through with thirium. He put his dirty clothes into the washer, but he didn’t start it just yet. He’d start it once he was out of the shower, like Gavin said.

As soon as the water was warm enough, he stepped inside, letting the water rinse off the thirium that had covered most of his chest and abdomen. The warm water felt nice, soothing him to an extent. He was tempted to stay in the shower for longer than he needed to, but he knew Gavin had to get in too. He could indulge himself a little though. He’d never had a shower before, and it was so warm, he didn’t want to get out. He stood underneath the stream, letting it wash over him while he looked around the shower. He wasn’t being particularly nosy, he was just looking at what Gavin had set out. He had some shampoos, conditioners, body wash, washcloth, and a smaller bottle, sat beside an object. At first, he didn’t recognize what they were, but then he realized, and suddenly that restlessness from the days before came back.

To distract himself, he scrubbed his body clean, rinsed out his hair just in case any thirium collected there. It didn’t really work as a distraction, but at least it was productive. Once he was sure he was clean again, he got out and dried himself with the towel he’d been given before he started pulling on the clothes.

The clothes were definitely a snug fit, but he managed to get everything on and none of it was particularly _uncomfortable_. It just didn’t fit well. He turned on the washer, now that he was out of the shower, and headed out of the bathroom, without the hoodie on, for now. He wasn’t quite cold enough for it yet, but he carried it with him just in case.

Nines had just left the bathroom as Gavin had come back inside. He felt like he should sit on the couch, or something, but he just stood there awkwardly instead, unsure of what to do. He watched Gavin, noticing the way he’d looked him over, the way his jaw clenched and he averted his gaze. They were signs he’d picked up on before, things he’d noticed to look out for, after having the conversation with Connor that night, after the alleyway.

“You should shower too,” he said, instead of really answering Gavin’s question. “Your clothes are just as stained as mine were.” He could wait on the couch for him to come back out, keep himself distracted somehow.

* * *

Gavin looked down at himself, and sure enough, his clothes were still stained blue. He gave a nod instead of answering, and swilling his coffee, finished it in one tip of the mug. It made him pull a face, but otherwise, Gavin said nothing else as he excused himself to shower. He slapped the stop button on the washer and opened the door, and threw his clothes in as he peeled them off. His gun holster was set above the dryer, and he tipped the bullets out of his gun before setting that on top, too. Prince had pushed his gun off his counter once and scared the shit out of him when it fired on impact with the floor.

The hot water of the shower came almost instantly, which was a nice change. Gavin scrubbed the thirium off his body, and the gel out of his hair, and brushed his teeth while he was in there as well. Gavin had lived by himself since his first police force paycheck. And he’d been fucking himself in the shower for even longer. And so he almost made it out without realising what Nines would have seen, he almost didn’t think anything of it.

But then Gavin’s gaze fell on the silicone left less than innocently in plain sight, and a jolt of _hot_ embarrassment made Gavin’s head tilt back with a long, quiet cuss.

Gavin shut off the water before Nines could suspect he was using it, and viciously scrubbed his hair and face with his towel to try and shake out his embarrassment. At the end of the day, he was a grown fucking adult, and if Nines had something to say about it Gavin would point that out to him. With this resolve in mind, Gavin wrapped his towel around his waist and pushed open the bathroom door, crossing through the living room and into his bedroom for clothes.

Gavin emerged a short time later in sweatpants and a hoodie he wasn’t wearing a shirt under. Fiddling with the zipper as he dropped next to Nines, Gavin tugged it halfway up, and then slapped the outside of Nines’ thigh.

“What the fuck do you wanna watch?” Gavin asked, leaning forward to grab the remote. “You ever seen Blade Runner? A huge fucking influence for Eli, even if he won’t admit it…”

Gavin turned to look at him, his gaze lingering on Nines’ mouth as it always seemed to these days, before flicking up to his eyes.

“Same with, uh… iRobot…”

* * *

When Gavin disappeared into the bathroom, Nines moved over to sit on the couch. He was uncomfortable. He felt too restless. All he could think about after seeing the toy in Gavin’s shower were the things he’d said in the alleyway. The things he’d said before Nines left him there. Did Gavin really want those things? From _him_? At that time, they were hardly even friends, but the things he said and the kiss implied that he wanted more, but did he really? The only real way to find out was to ask, or try. And Gavin didn’t seem to appreciate questions.

Nines was lost in thought when Gavin came out of the bathroom to cross into his bedroom. That didn’t stop him from looking up and watching him go, though. He didn’t get to see much in the short amount of time Gavin was in the living room, but he saw enough. He waited as patiently as he could for Gavin to return, and when he did, he couldn’t help the way his eyes raked over his body, lingering on the exposed skin.

He watched as Gavin sat beside him, as he leaned forward and sat back again. He heard the questions, but he didn’t answer. He was more focused on the way Gavin’s body was moving, and the way his lips moved when he talked. He absolutely noticed when Gavin looked to him, Gavin’s eyes lingering on his mouth. The second they made eye contact, he leaned forward, reaching out to wrap his hand around the back of Gavin’s neck to pull him closer. He pressed his lips to Gavin’s, slow and a little unsure, experimental. He knew what he was doing, he knew how to do it, but he’d only ever kissed him once. He knew _how_, but he didn’t have first-hand experience to back it up. But that didn’t stop him. Nines shifted closer, deepening the kiss while guiding Gavin back against the couch, his other arm reaching down to brace himself over him.

* * *

Gavin had no idea what Nines was thinking, right up until his hand cupped the back of his neck. Confusion speared through Gavin, because really? Right now? He wanted to do this right now?

But then, Nines couldn’t get drunk. He couldn’t get high, either. And hadn’t Gavin always wanted someone to fuck him when he had a particularly bad day?

He understood. And so he didn’t protest, meeting Nines halfway.

Almost immediately, Gavin melted into it. It had been a long time since anyone kissed him slowly, took their time with him. He loved hard and rough and fast, quickies where he used to get fucked in the back of cars or over bathroom sinks. But he’d missed this, too.

Gavin’s left arm wrapped around Nine’s neck, and he made an _incredibly_ pleased sound as he was pressed back against the couch, and he felt Nines move over him. Gavin’s hips shifted, his back arching up a little as he spread his thighs to let Nines get between them. He pulled Nines closer, wanting to feel him, and bit his bottom lip as he did it.

“Jesus, Nines I want you _so_ fucking bad,” Gavin said against his lips, fisting a handful of his hair and tugging it. “I’ve been thinking about you fucking me for days. Ever since I kissed you…”

And really, that was a whole new dilemma Gavin didn’t know how to unpack. But walking around, pretending like he still thought Nines was a machine was stupid, especially after today. Yet at the same time, he was still an android. He still wanted to fuck an android.

* * *

Nines was beyond relieved that Gavin didn’t pull away or push him away, but instead, he met him for it. He needed this. It was a good distraction, and maybe it would ease the sexual frustration that had been building since the alleyway. Maybe it would help their relationship even more. He already felt so much closer to Gavin after the attack.

Gavin had helped him. Despite the pain it caused, Gavin had tried to fix him, to keep him alive. He was worried. He cared. He’d called him _Nines_. Not RK900, or ‘900. It was like a name. An actual name. More of a nickname, but it was still a name, not just a number, signifying _what_ he was. That in itself meant more to him than he could even think to express.

When Gavin spread his legs to make room for him, Nines situated himself between them. He lowered himself down against him, careful to keep most of his weight off of him as they kissed, bracing himself on his elbows. He made a soft sound against Gavin’s lips as his was bitten, and another when his hair was tugged on.

“I’m not equipped with the proper parts,” he mumbled against Gavin’s lips, shifting just enough to kiss his jaw. “But I can use my fingers.” He pressed a few more kisses down to his neck, stopping just by his ear. “And my mouth.” He nipped at the skin there before kissing lower, down to his collarbone. He had enough foresight to know that any marks made above his collarbone would likely be visible with a regular shirt on. Any marks below, however…

* * *

_“Oh,”_ Gavin said quietly, “Sorry, I didn’t-- I forgot…”

But wait, he almost said. _Connor_ had the right parts. He’d fucked Elijah so deep he’d hardly been able to walk when Gavin had visited. It was a thought that came intrusively as he was kissed down his jaw, his skin erupting in goosebumps and flushing under Nines’ kisses. If Nines didn’t have the right parts, either Elijah had been pegged, or - and Gavin _laughed_ as he realised - he’d made his fucking boyfriend a dick and then ridden it all night long. If Gavin knew Elijah, which he did, he knew exactly which option it was.

It’s an absurd, hilarious, and terrible thought that Gavin firmly kept to himself and pushed to the side, his attention snagged by Nines’ wonderfully hot mouth. Was Nines going to kiss down his whole body like this? He hoped so, and Gavin shuddered _hard_ as he listened to him speak.

“Holy _shit?_”

Gavin’s fingers fumbled with his hoodie zipper, and he let go of Nines’ hair to shrug it off his shoulders. Gavin had an old bullet scar on the ball of his shoulder, and the scars on Gavin’s face were mirrored over the left side of his chest; a smashed bottle to the face, and a shattered bottle used as a weapon.

When Gavin’s arms were free, he reached down and pulled Nines’ shirt over his head as well. Despite what had happened just _hours_ ago, there wasn’t a mark on him. Gavin’s hands traced his chest, and then his sides. And then he curled his fingers, and scratched up his spine, over his shoulders, and into his hair, tugging again as he rolled his hips up against him.

“C’mon…”

* * *

Nines didn’t understand why Gavin laughed, but he didn’t bother asking about it. He liked hearing it, though. He also liked the way Gavin’s skin flushed, how he shuddered at his suggestions. The shudder was more than enough to tell him that yes, he definitely should use his fingers, and his mouth. He didn’t need Gavin’s verbal approval. His body was screaming yes.

When Gavin shrugged off his hoodie, Nines sat back enough to give Gavin space so he could pull the hoodie out from under him. He tossed the hoodie over the back of the couch and lifted his arms to help Gavin get his shirt off. He stayed where he was, sitting back partially, allowing himself to look over Gavin’s body. Each and every scar made him curious. He wanted to know where they all came from, the stories behind them, but he didn’t dare ask. Not right now, anyway. His fingers trailed over them, mapping out each scar, almost fascinated by them. He couldn’t scar. He knew if he could, he’d have a few after the fight earlier, but his own skin was completely flawless. Humans were so fragile, and their skin held stories of their past, and he was starting to realize, he didn’t know anything about Gavin.

He knew he smoked when he was stressed. He knew he was trying to quit, or did try for a whole two days. He knew he was Elijah Kamski’s brother, but they were keeping it a secret from the world. He was a detective at the DPD, desperate for a promotion. He knew he was determined and strong, and kind of intimidating. He had a short fuse, and he didn’t talk about personal things, and he didn’t like questions either. He liked cats, coffee, and men, seemingly. But everything else, the important things, was still a mystery to him. And last time he dared to ask anything even remotely personal, he’d been shut down and faced with a setback in their relationship. He wasn’t going to risk that again.

The hands traveling over his body felt nice, but it was the nails scratching up his back that pulled him from his thoughts with a shudder, and the hand in his hair and the roll of Gavin’s hips that brought him back down with a deep groan, elbows braced on either side of Gavin’s head as he kissed him again, deep, with a bit of desperation. He rolled his hips down against Gavin’s with a moan, biting at Gavin’s lip before pulling back to return to kissing his way down his neck, to his collarbone again. He bit the skin there, rolling it between his teeth before sucking a dark mark into it. His hips ground down against Gavin’s as he left marks all across his collarbone and chest, gradually working his way down until he had to shift completely, inching back as he got lower.

Nines’ hands ran up the outside of Gavin’s thighs as he positioned himself between them, taking just a second to look over him before reaching up to hooks his fingers around the waistband and pull them down, sitting back enough to pull them off completely. He tossed them to join his shirt on the floor before returning to his place between Gavin’s thighs, his hands resting on his thighs. He pressed a kiss to his hip before sitting back again. “I’ll be right back,” he promised, before withdrawing completely, getting up off the couch to retrieve the lube from the shower. He returned within seconds, climbing back over him. He leaned in for another kiss, allowing his hands to wander, running down his sides, hips, and thighs, to his ass, just exploring, for now.

* * *

The kiss was _nice_, and Gavin moaned into it when Nines ground down against him. Heat flushed Gavin’s skin and made him restless, and a sound of protest left his chest when Nines broke away. His hands tightened in Nines’ hair, but he didn’t guide his head. He wanted to see what he’d do, and where he was going with this. How did he know _any_ of this?!

Gavin let out a breathless sound when Nines sucked the first mark into his skin, and let his head tip back against the couch with a shameless groan as he was given more.

He needed this. He’d needed this way before Nines had been dumped in his lap. It felt like he hadn’t been touched in _years_, and hell, maybe it was years. He wasn’t keeping track. Gavin had given up looking for a partner in the late 2020s. He wasn’t sure when he’d stopped looking for flings. He’d managed to convince himself that a good vibrator under a hot shower was enough, and god it wasn’t. He needed _this_.

Gavin ran his tongue across his top teeth as Nines leant back to look at him, and when his pants were pulled off, he couldn’t help grinning. His nose wrinkled with it, and it creased his eyes; it was genuine. And it dropped faster than a brick as Nines started getting up.

“Hey--”

He put together what was happening when Nines stepped into the bathroom, and shifted, squirming a little. _Restless_. And when Nines kissed him again, Gavin wrapped an arm around him. Gavin’s mouth opened, and he hummed lightly into the kiss as he felt those hands wander over him. He licked into Nines’ mouth and bit at his lips, kissing him a little rough, a little dirty, and completely desperately.

“D’you want me on my stomach? Or do you like me like this?” Gavin muttered against his lips, running a hand down the centre of Nines’ chest. He bit Nines' bottom lip again, pushing it into a kiss, and took the hand not on his ass. Gavin slid those fingers over his own skin, and cupped Nines’ hand over his erection.

“I’m so fuckin’ hard for you it hurts. D’you want me on my stomach or not?” he growled into Nines' ear, his teeth pressed against the shell.

* * *

The sounds Gavin made were beautiful, and Nines made sure to flag each action that resulted in one of those sounds in his memory for future use. He wanted to see what else he could do to make him moan. He knew from what Connor had told him that Gavin liked shows of strength, authority, and domination. He definitely hadn’t forgotten. He was going to use that to his advantage in the future. But for right now, things were going well enough.

Leaving Gavin to retrieve the lube had physically hurt, seeing the way he was grinning, and the way it fell when he got up. He’d never seen him smile so big before. Not genuinely. He loved it. He wanted to see him smile more often, genuine smiles.

He’d made sure to be quick with retrieving the lube, not wanting to waste any time returning to him. The kiss he returned to was rough and filthy and he loved every second of it. He was learning a lot, despite technically knowing what he was doing. Having real experience, learning what Gavin liked and didn’t like, and the way he used his mouth, helped Nines mimic it, giving Gavin the same rough treatment he was receiving.

He made a soft sound of displeasure when Gavin broke the kiss to speak, lingering there until he was finished with his question. He didn’t have much of an opportunity to answer, Gavin’s mouth was on his again. He surely wasn’t complaining. He let Gavin guide his hand, knowing exactly where it was going. He wrapped his fingers around him, giving him a few long, slow strokes. “Stay like this,” he finally said, his voice an octave deeper, hoarser. He leaned in to kiss him again, the hand on his ass moving to instead grab the bottle of lube he’d set aside.

Popping the cap off, he let go of his erection to apply a generous amount of lube to his fingers before setting the bottle aside again, never breaking the kiss. He slipped his hand between them again, running his finger over his entrance before slowly pressing inside. His other hand returned to Gavin’s erection, resuming the slow strokes he gave him before, breaking the kiss to nip at his jaw. “I don’t have a gag reflex, but I can’t swallow. Warn me,” he whispered in Gavin’s ear before he started kissing, nipping, and sucking his way down his body again, taking a moment to tease one of his nipples on the way down.

* * *

Gavin _hissed_ when Nines stroked him, his hips rolling up and pressing into it. He almost argued when he was told to stay where he was, because ass up and head down was the best position if Nines only had hands and a mouth. But he shut up about it, because it was clear Nines knew what he was doing. He moved like he’d done this before, he kissed Gavin like he worked at a whore house, and he was just so goddamn _sure_ that he couldn’t muster the effort to argue. He could always turn over later.

Gavin’s kiss stuttered when he heard the familiar pop of the lube cap, and his pulse shot up with a wave of excitement. Gavin lifted his knee, bracing his foot between the couch cushions to make the angle better. At the intrusion of one finger, Gavin’s mouth hung open. And when it was rejoined by the slow, steady stroke of Nines’ hand, Gavin _shuddered, _and moaned loud and shameless into Nines mouth. He didn’t want to stop kissing Nines, and when he started to pull away, Gavin pulled him back. His fingers knotted painfully into Nines’ hair, his other hand coming up to grip the side of his face. Gavin rough and needy, dirty and wanting. He moaned into it, and kissed until he was breathless.

Because Gavin knew that once he let him go, he wouldn’t get to kiss him again until they were done.

When Gavin let Nines go, he laid back with a slight twist to his shoulders, and a shallow arch to his spine. He felt so good and they hadn’t even started, really. He hissed in another breath and shakily rubbed his nose, the same way he did after kissing Nines in the alley.

“What do you mean you can’t-- _Oh_. Oh, fuckin’ Christ, you’re..? Okay,” Gavin blurted stupidly in reply to Nines’ warning. And when his nipples were played with, Gavin blurted again, seemingly unable to help himself.

“You’re gonna look so fuckin’ pretty with a cock in your mouth, Nines,” Gavin moaned, carding his hands through his hair. He was restless; from the touches, from the finger pulling in and out of him, and because he knew where that mouth was headed. He knew what those fingers were trying to do. And sure, he wasn’t going to get fucked deep today, but he almost didn’t care.

* * *

Gavin’s tight grip in his hair had made him moan. It didn’t particularly hurt, but it stung, somehow in a good way. He almost didn’t want Gavin to let go, but he didn’t really complain when he did. He kept his mouth busy with leaving marks here and there while his finger slowly worked itself in and out of him. He kept his movements slow for now, perfectly content to watch Gavin fall apart beneath him.

Nines let go of him again to add more lube onto his fingers, slowly working in a second one as he sucked and bit a dark mark into Gavin’s hip. He let out a moan against Gavin’s skin at his words as he kissed his way down to his erection, wrapping his hand around him again, but only to hold him still as he licked a stripe from base to tip underneath. He wrapped his mouth around the head, his tongue swiveling around it as he looked up at Gavin, to watch him. Hollowing out his cheeks, he sank down completely before raising his head again, keeping his tongue pressed against his underside along the way and swirling around him once he reached the head again, before sinking back down to repeat the process. He kept his eyes on Gavin’s face the entire time, watching him and studying his reactions to each thing he did.

He would have _liked_ to have been able to give Gavin everything he wanted, but he hadn’t been equipped with the parts, and he wasn’t sure if Gavin would want him to use the dildo on him, though if Gavin asked, he would. They would have to settle for his fingers for now, though Gavin didn’t seem to mind _too_ much. He matched the pace of his fingers to that of his mouth, curling his fingers at different angles on each thrust in, searching for that particular spot.

Nines shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable where he was situated between Gavin’s legs. That restlessness was only getting worse. He wanted to be touched. The hand in his hair helped a lot, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t know how to get what he needed. He didn’t know how to ask, either. He could be content with Gavin in his mouth and his fingers working him open, but he didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to stand it. He wished he had the part. It would solve all their problems.

* * *

Gavin was right. Nines looked _gorgeous _with a cock in his mouth. His eyes lidded as he watched him sink down, his mouth falling open at how good he was at it, at how good it _felt_. Gavin’s hand cupped the side of Nines’ face, and he let out a strangled groan that morphed into a moan. Gavin’s breathing became heavier, his mouth open as he watched Nines watching him. His eyes were almost the colour of sapphires in the dim winter light of his living room. They were beautiful. _He_ was beautiful. But hell, he’d thought that about almost everyone who got on their knees for him.

Gavin wasn’t particularly hard to open up. He used the dildo almost daily, and so the second finger barely only resulted in Gavin groaning, and rocking his hips as he collapsed back against the couch. He could feel what he was trying to do with each curl of his fingers, and Gavin keened a frustrated sound as he waited for him to hit it. The _almost there_, combined with the steady rhythm of his mouth, was torture. Because it was so good, yet at the same time not good enough. He wanted more, he wanted it rougher, he wanted Nines to make him _scream_.

When Nines found what he was searching for, Gavin _jerked_, his hand flying to the back of Nines head and his spine arching off the couch.

“_Fuck_, right there, baby, right fucking there,” Gavin moaned loudly, his hand curling into Nines’ hair and holding him in place as he fucked up into his mouth with another shameless moan. He was used to hitting his prostate with the blunt end of a vibrator. Someone else nimble fingers felt completely different in the best way possible.

“Nines, please, come on. Come on,” Gavin begged. “Make me scream, Nines, come on. I’m not gonna break, baby, please, _fucking please…”_

* * *

Nines didn’t falter in his movements when Gavin started to rock his hips. He kept up the pace he’d set, up until it seemed he’d found what he was looking for. He moaned around him when Gavin’s hand curled into his hair again, staying right where he was, letting him thrust up into his mouth. Gavin’s words had far too much of an effect on him, much more than they should have. A shudder rolled through him with a groan, and he shifted his weight on his knees a little in discomfort. The part wasn’t there, but he _felt_ like he needed to be touched anyway.

He kept his tongue against him as Gavin thrust upwards, continuing to swirl his tongue around him when he had the opportunity. He made sure to aim for his prostate each time he thrust his fingers back in, now that he had found it. He grabbed the bottle to add more lube onto his fingers before working in a third.

Gavin’s begging earned a long, drawn-out groan, and without much wait, he lubed up a fourth and worked it in alongside the third. With Gavin’s urging, he sped up the pace, thrusting his fingers in and out of him faster, harder, and deeper than before, making sure to aim directly for his prostate each time. He was trusting him to tell him if it was too much, if it hurt or if he needed him to stop, and to warn him in time so he could pull back without causing any damage to his inner systems.

He tried to grind down against the couch to maybe relieve some of the discomfort that had been building, but it hardly helped much. He couldn’t quite reach very well, in the position he was in, and he had no intentions of readjusting until Gavin was finished, or told him otherwise.

* * *

The sounds Nines made around him felt incredible, and had Gavin groaning in turn. They went straight through him, and he gripped his hair painfully tight to encourage more. Gavin wished it was deeper, and missed the sensation of _full_, but god it barely mattered at all.

Gavin’s back arched when a third finger was quickly joined by a fourth, and moaned when Nines hit his prostate over, and over, and over again. Nines’ wrist should have tired by now, and that _should_ have been Gavin’s momentary break. But it didn’t tire, and Gavin’s thrusts became irregular, unable to hold their pace as he twisted away from the fingers without meaning to, his body’s movements involuntary and traitorous.

Gavin clutched onto Nines with bruising strength, and sure enough, he _screamed_. It was a wretched, sobbing sound of pleasure, and he ripped Nines’ head up, forcing him off of him. Gavin was loud, moaning with every merciless hit of his prostate.

“Nines! Fuck, _Nines, Ni--_” Gavin cried out as his prostate was hit again, and he was pushed over the edge. He screamed again, his orgasm hitting him _hard_, and he quickly caught Nine’s wrist when his sensitivity ricocheted. Gavin moaned as a thick, heavy contentedness washed over him, and pleasure ran up under his skin.

Gavin eased Nines’ fingers out of himself, and grunted a little once he had. He then used that grip on Nines to pull him up, flip him over, and pin Nines to the couch.

“I can hear how fucking horny you are,” Gavin said against his lips before kissing him, deep and rough and dirty. Gavin buried his fingers in Nines’ hair and pulled, before trailing invisible hickeys down the side of his neck. His hand traveled down Nines’ chest, and he cupped his groin, _grinding_ his palm into it. His fingers let go of his hair to trail down his chest, where he found his nipples and began to _worship_. If he’d bruised, they would have been covered in hickeys, too.

* * *

Nines didn’t think pain could ever actually feel _good_, but he was _very_ wrong. He loved when Gavin held onto his hair so tight, and it definitely did pull more moans out of him. His movements were relentless, never faltering, even when Gavin tried to twist away. His free hand came to rest on his hip, but not to restrict him, he just used it to steady him and keep him from twisting too far away.

Hearing Gavin scream filled him with so much pleasure and _joy_, knowing that he’d managed to give him what he wanted. Gavin’s moans were loud and so constant, they only urged him on. It felt _good_ to know that Gavin was so thoroughly enjoying what he was doing. When Gavin pulled his head up off of himself, Nines let out a moan at the harsh pull of hair. Immediately, his mouth was replaced by his hand, stroking him over the edge, his fingers continuing to assault his prostate until Gavin’s hand caught his wrist to stop him.

Watching Gavin come undone was a beautiful sight, and Nines let himself look over him, his eyes traveling over his body before finally landing on his face, just in time for him to be pulled up and rolled. The sudden change had surprised him, but he wasn’t opposed in the slightest. He melted into the kiss with a deep moan, the hand not covered in lube coming up to tangle in Gavin’s hair. When Gavin broke the kiss to trail kisses down his body, he shuddered _hard_, arching up into his touch. He was breathless, despite not needing to breathe in the first place, his chest heaving with every labored breath.

Gavin’s hand on his groin ripped a long, deep, guttural moan out of Nines as he rolled his hips up against him, chasing the feeling. He almost complained when Gavin’s hand left his hair, but the second his mouth and hands were on his nipples, he completely lost his train of thought, head falling back with a moan. He was quickly getting overwhelmed, his LED rapidly flickering red as he writhed underneath him.

* * *

Nines was like a virgin. He lit up at _everything_ Gavin did, and it was so flattering he hardly cared. Gavin wasn’t desperate anymore, and he was wearing a bone-deep happiness that made him endeared by Nines’ reactions, rather than annoyed by them.

At the _beautiful_ sound he earned with the hand on Nines’ crotch, Gavin quickly unbuttoned his jeans and yanked them down. He was too far up to get them all the way off, but he didn’t need them all the way off.

Gavin dropped, trailing hot, messy kisses down Nines’ stomach. And when he got just a little bit past the naval, Gavin’s jaw opened, and he pressed his tongue flat against the smooth surface of Nines’ skin.

Nines was built like a doll. There was nothing there, and it weirded Gavin out a tiny bit. He never thought he’d be doing this. He never thought he’d _enjoy_ this. But he was. And he did. And so he pushed the feeling to one side and looked up at Nines, feeling between his legs with his fingertips. There was a bulge, and Gavin pressed his tongue flat against it, and ground down as much as he could while keeping his teeth safely behind his lips. He then sucked exactly how he would if he were giving a hickey, all while scratching his nails up the inside of Nines’ thighs. It was the weirdest position he’d ever been in between someone’s thighs, and the weirdest thing he’d ever done. But weirdest of all, Gavin sort of loved it.

* * *

Nines shifted slightly to help Gavin get his jeans down as low as he could before laying completely back against the couch again. He was incredibly tense, so wound tight, yet so close to the edge. He just needed a push, and it really wouldn’t take much. He shuddered as Gavin pressed kisses to his skin, working his way lower. He hadn’t expected him to pay any attention to his groin area. There was nothing there, even if he felt like there was, almost like a phantom limb that was never really there.

Gavin’s mouth felt amazing and his hot tongue and breath on his skin met by the cool air of the room sent shivers up his spine. He just kept moving lower, and when his tongue pressed against his skin, he rocked his hips upwards, without really even thinking about it. It felt like there was a knot growing in his stomach, a tension that he couldn’t release.

He really hadn’t thought Gavin would bother with his groin, but when Gavin’s fingers grazed over the smooth, slight bulge of his groin, followed by his tongue, his head fell back as he _keened_. And when he started to suck on his skin there and scratch at his inner thighs, a _violent_ shudder rolled through him with a _loud_ moan, his eyes squeezing shut and his jaw falling slack as his back arched. His bright red LED stopped glowing for just a second, the blue ring slowly starting to build back up again. His breathing was still labored, but it had slowed a bit as his body started to relax, his death grip in Gavin’s hair loosening substantially. He slowly blinked his eyes open again, taking a second to focus on Gavin, before a smile spread across his face. He used the hand still holding onto Gavin’s hair to guide him up for a lazy kiss, humming happily.

* * *

Gavin’s expression pulled into a _very_ pleased smirk at the reactions he pulled from Nines. Gavin’s nose wrinkled a little, his gaze fixed on the way Nines undulated and arched. Gavin hissed at the _strength _those hands had in his hair, his scalp stinging. But he didn’t care - how could he? It was the roughest Nines had been with him yet.

Gavin pushed up when he saw Nines LED flicker red, and then go blank. Sharp panic speared through him, because _holy fuck did he just kill Nines by sucking on his dick bulge?!_ How was he going to explain that to Eli? What the hell was he going to say?!

“_Fuck_,” he whispered when he saw it go blue, his head tipping back in relief.

He watched Nines blink awake, and Gavin’s eyebrows raised as he was rewarded with a smile. A real smile, not just that tolerable quirk of lips he did when something Gavin said caught his amusement. It transformed his whole face, and melted the ice in his eyes, and Gavin couldn’t help the grin he gave in return.

“Hey,” he greeted when he was pulled up for a kiss, which Gavin melted into, resting his elbows either side of Nines’ shoulders.

And _god_, he felt so good. Not just physically, he felt like something in him had clicked into place. He was tangibly happy, _disgustingly_ happy. The restless urge to work had been snuffed, the incessant need to get out and do something was snuffed. He felt _good_, and more put together than he had in a very long time.

With a groan, Gavin sank down and rested his weight on Nines. He broke the kiss to look at him, and Gavin’s nose scrunched again as he smiled.

“You’re real fuckin’ sexy when you smile like that, Nines. It looks good on you,” Gavin said, reaching up to card his fingers through his hair. “You look good with your hair messy. Looked good in my jeans earlier, too. Whoever designed your ass did a good job,” Gavin teased, pulling Nines’ hair down to fall in his face.

* * *

All of the tension from earlier, the restlessness, the anxiety, the sadness and fear, all of it was gone. Nines felt more relaxed than he ever had, completely loose-limbed. The smiles came easier now than they had before, and his smile grew wider upon seeing Gavin's. He reached up with his free arm to wrap it around him when Gavin laid on top of him, shifting just slightly to get more comfortable.

“I like seeing you smile, too,” Nines replied, leaning up to press a much more innocent kiss to his lips before relaxing back again. He resisted the urge to comb back his hair when Gavin pulled it forward, instead carding his fingers through Gavin’s hair. “I’m fairly certain my ass is standard for all androids,” he stated bluntly. “Although, the HR400 and WR400 models are slightly different from the standard.”

It was then that he realized that Gavin’s jeans were even still partially on him. He’d practically forgotten they were there. He shifted a bit, using his foot to pull the pant leg down enough to kick them off, letting them fall to the floor. “Your clothes were a little too tight on me,” he said, hooking one of his legs around Gavin’s. “There’s a five-inch height difference between us.”

Nines was pretty content to stay laying the way they were, but it did occur to him that it was getting late, and they had work in the morning. Gavin needed to sleep. “Do you want to go to bed?” he asked. “It’s late, and you need to sleep before tomorrow morning…”

* * *

Gavin laughed a little in surprise at the way Nines answered him and returned the kiss. He wasn’t used to innocent remarks, he was so used to it being dirty and teasing and a little bit filthy, right to the very end. Gavin wasn’t sure what to do with it. He didn’t dislike it - Nines was being sort of cute, actually - he just didn’t know what to do with it, or how to respond.

“Alright then, _standard_ ass. You’re making it real hard to flatter you,” Gavin said with another grin, only to frown, and then sigh when Nines suggested bed.

“Don’t mother me. I’m fine right here,” he grouched, tracing a thumb down Nines’ jaw. He ran it up his chin, and traced his lips, pushing the bottom one to the side before hooking his thumb between his teeth.

“How many people have you fucked before me, Nines? I thought Eli only found you two weeks ago,” Gavin asked curiously, his eyes lidding a little as he messed with his mouth. His lips were _so_ soft, and Gavin watched them as he let his fingers slide back up to Nines’ hair. Gavin’s movements were tired and happy, his breathing and his heart rate relaxed. He felt good, and if he slept, that feeling would be over too soon. Tomorrow was going to be a shit show.

“And fuck _you_, by the way,” Gavin snapped without any true emotion behind it, tugging lightly on Nines’ hair for emphasis. “There’s not five inches between us. Three, three and a half at most…”

* * *

Nines didn’t quite know how to even take flattery. He knew the things Gavin said were meant to be compliments, but what was he supposed to say back? Was he supposed to compliment him in return? He could have. He could have thanked him. But instead, his mind had gone to stating facts. He was just relieved it was well received. It made Gavin smile, so he was happy enough.

When Gavin insisted on staying where they were, he dropped it. He didn’t see how he could be very comfortable, laying on top of solid plastic and assorted metals, but he didn’t bother mentioning it. If Gavin said he was comfortable, fine. Nines was quite comfortable himself, sandwiched between the couch and Gavin.

His tongue came to meet Gavin’s thumb when it invaded his mouth, teasingly giving it the same treatment it had given his cock only minutes before. He only spoke when his mouth was free again, his expression mildly confused. “Only you,” he answered with complete honesty. “Mr. Kamski activated me on December 13th, only six days ago.” Where did Gavin get _two weeks_ from? Unless maybe Elijah found him two weeks ago and waited until six days ago to activate him… Regardless, though, why did Gavin think he’d been with other people?

The look of confusion disappeared when Gavin pulled on his hair, and he took in a deep breath he didn’t need. He also didn’t need to get turned on again so soon. He eyed Gavin suspiciously, shifting slightly to glance down his body before settling back. “No, there are definitely five inches. You’re 5’9”. I’m 6’2”,” he stated very matter-of-factually.

* * *

A flush ran up Gavin’s neck and settled in his ears, his expression _very_ pleased as he watched the way Nines’ tongue moved, and felt it on his thumb tip. Nines had a _filthy_ mouth, and nobody in the world knew it except for Gavin.

“Why are you programmed to suck dick like it’s an Olympic sport and you’re a gold medalist?” Gavin asked with an incredulous grin. “What, did CyberLife plan for you to fuck your way into a mafia ring?” It wouldn’t be unheard of… 100 years ago.

The hand not in Nines’ hair ran idly up his side, and Gavin’s fingers _very_ lightly scratched as he went.

Six days?! No, it was…

But as Gavin counted back, he realised Nines was right. And as he did, he realised it had taken him six days to go from accusing Elijah of sending him a machine, to begging Nines to fuck him harder. Gavin’s head dropped, and he let out an embarrassed groan that he muffled into Nines’ shoulder.

“No, _asshole_, I'm 5’11. I just never stand straight,” Gavin said, pulling up to frown at him. And although Gavin was cussing, there was no venom behind any of his words, none of the usual malice or vindictiveness. “No, fuck you, don’t you fucking analyse me with your goddamn android eyes. I’m 5’11. _I know my own height, Nines!_”

* * *

Nines’ smile grew with Gavin’s, one hand reaching up to comb Gavin’s hair back while the other simply rested on Gavin’s back. “I wasn’t programmed to suck dick, I was only programmed to hunt deviants and perform typical police and military tasks. I downloaded the same software implemented in the HR400s and WR400s,” he explained, almost as if it was obvious. “Although, it might have been beneficial to have the programming in the event that _fucking my way into a mafia ring_ became a necessity. CyberLife likely didn’t consider it.”

A shiver ran up his spine as Gavin’s nails traveled up his side. Scratching felt _very_ good, he was quickly learning. He tested it on Gavin, lightly scraping his nails along his scalp while he ran his fingers through his hair, watching his face for a reaction.

Gavin’s insistence that he was 5’11” made Nines raise an eyebrow, peering down his side again to double check. “You aren’t slouching right now. You’re 5’9”,” he said again. He knew it was a fact, he didn’t get why Gavin was insisting otherwise. Height wasn’t really that important, or at least, Nines didn’t think so. Although, he kind of liked that Gavin was shorter. He didn’t understand why, but he did.

* * *

Gavin’s expression was shocked, but only for a moment before a loud laugh burst out of him.

“Aw, baby, did you download Traci software just so you could blow me right? You shouldn’t have, I'm flattered,” Gavin teased, laughing as he said it. He knew what a Traci could do; he’d never hired one, but he’d sure as hell heard. Maybe googled it a few times. And now he knew that Nines could do it, too. It explained a lot, and he oddly didn’t mind as much as he thought he should.

“Mm, say ‘_fucking my way into a mafia ring_’ like that again,” Gavin snickered, working at one of his teeth with the tip of his tongue.

Jesus_ Christ_ Nines was hot. It was an opinion that increased the more he came out of his shell. Gavin shivered and grinned at the scratching against his scalp, and leant down, catching his bottom lip with his teeth and briefly tugging on it.

“Shut the fuck up about my height you enormous prick. I’m 5’11,” Gavin huffed, still grinning as he pressed a kiss against him. He groaned into it, disgustingly happy and _loving_ it. Loving how it felt to have someone pressed up the length of his body. Loving how it felt to have someone laying next to him and keeping up with him, not shying away from him, and not faking it, either. They worked well together, at the precinct and, apparently, in bed as well.

* * *

Nines smiled wider when Gavin laughed, even if it was at his own expense. He liked hearing Gavin laugh. He liked seeing him smile too. These were genuine. These weren’t his usual sarcastic laughs or smiles, these were real. Gavin was actually happy. So was Nines. He was very happy, despite the events that took place earlier that day. He’d completely forgotten about it.

“I downloaded it when you kissed me in the alleyway Thursday night,” Nines replied with a tiny shrug. He had needed it then, to know what to do, and to be able to even process what was going on. The internet would have helped just as much, but the software helped much more than an internet search ever would.

Gavin’s request made him laugh. “Gavin, I’m not going to repeat everything I say just because you think it’s sexy,” he said, shaking his head. He hummed happily when Gavin leaned in to catch his lip between his teeth, his hand in Gavin’s hair curling into it. When Gavin kissed him instead, he returned it, letting out a satisfied moan. He wanted to insist that Gavin _was_ indeed 5’9”, but he let it go for now, for the sake of the kiss. If Gavin brought it up again though, he would adamantly swear that he was 5’9”, his readings were incredibly accurate. There was no way he could possibly be any taller.

* * *

He loved the sound of Nines’ laughter. He loved that he had a bit of an attitude too, now that he wasn’t tip-toeing around Gavin. He liked that Nines pushed back. It was _bizarre_ that Nines, who had been built to look cold and mean, and was supposed to be a killing machine, was incredibly gentle. He was quiet and reserved in the office, and Gavin loved that he had a piece nobody else had.

Unsurprisingly, the kiss turned hot and heavy. His hands roamed, and as Gavin felt himself start to get hard again, he took Nines’ wrist and lead him up, off the couch and towards the bathroom, picking up the bottle as he went. He was covered in lube and come, he didn’t want to get into bed until it was off of him.

When Gavin had turned on the water and it was warm enough, he shoved Nines in first and followed him in with a dirty kiss. It was open-mouth, tongue and teeth and deep, satisfied moans. And although Nines said he’d downloaded the Traci software just to kiss him, Gavin didn’t think that was it. Nines kissed like a person, whimpered like a person, and gasped just like one too. So maybe Traci was Nines’ guiding fuck angel in the sky, but Gavin didn’t believe it was _software_ kissing him back.

Gavin groped around the shower, and _laughed_ against Nines’ lips when Prince yowled, and barreled into the bathroom with them. The door slammed open because of it, and she made herself known some more before barreling back out again. Vaguely, Gavin remembered he’d forgotten to feed her, but it was a thought he pushed aside as his hand curled around the dildo. His thumb dug into a button on the base, and with a discreet whir, it vibrated hard in Gavin’s hand.

“Deep breath, Nines,” Gavin purred against Nines’ ear, biting the shell and dragging his teeth the same moment he pressed the dildo where he’d put his mouth earlier. It didn’t matter if Nines didn’t have a cock, he seemed to have the same kind of nerve endings there. And so Gavin _ground_, huffing a laugh at the sound of vibrating silicone against plastic.

“I want you to fucking _scream_ my name, baby. I want you to lose control. Then when you catch your breath I want you to fuck me with it so deep and hard I feel it for a week,” Gavin growled in Nines’ ear, grinding the toy up against him as he slowly moved it, trying to gauge _where_ was more sensitive for him. His hand came up and pulled on Nines’ hair, and Gavin stood on the balls of his feet as he made his demands.

“I want you to fuck me so hard and dirty you gotta carry me to bed.”

* * *

Nines wasn’t surprised at all when the kiss turned from _just_ a kiss to something more. He had thought Gavin would want to sleep, to be well-rested for the next morning, but he didn’t complain _at all_ when he was led to the bathroom. He figured Gavin wanted another shower to get clean, though he suspected he wanted more than just a shower.

He leaned back against the shower wall when he was shoved in, his hands instantly resting on Gavin’s hips once he was on him again. He loved how dirty and rough the kiss was, how needy it was quickly becoming, and he _whined_ when it was broken as Prince came running into the room. He was too distracted by Prince to notice Gavin looking for the dildo. When he heard it buzz to life, he’d expected Gavin to use it on himself, or maybe as Nines to use it on him instead. It hadn’t even occurred to him that Gavin intended to use it on _him_.

Nines gasped sharply in surprise, head falling back against the shower wall with a loud moan. His hands on Gavin’s hips held on bruisingly tight as Gavin pressed the toy to his skin. It was such a strange sensation, one he absolutely didn’t expect, but it felt _so good_. He rolled his hips against it, a deep groan escaping him. Gavin’s words in his ear were filthy but they were exactly what he needed to hear. He was getting overwhelmed again very quickly, and he really didn’t think it was going to take much at all for him to scream Gavin’s name. And once he rebooted and was aware enough, he absolutely would fuck him with it until he couldn’t walk. He _needed_ to find out how to get the HR parts, like Connor. He hadn’t thought he’d want them, but he _definitely_ did.

“I wish I could fuck you senseless with _my_ cock,” he breathed out between moans. “I want to feel you.”

* * *

“That’s so romantic,” Gavin sniggered, his eyes lidded as he watched Nines move. The way he moaned cut directly south, and Gavin hummed quietly as he looked at him. They hadn’t even finished and he was already thinking about the next round. He couldn’t help but think about how good it’d feel if Nines had the part. When was the last time he’d been pinned down and pounded properly, by someone who knew what the hell they were doing?

“I wanna feel you, too, baby. _God_, say cock again,” he laughed, kissing down Nines’ neck, and sucking a line of what should have been hickeys all the way to his chest. Gavin braced one hand against the wall by Nines’ head and scraped his teeth over his nipple, tugging it with his teeth and then soothing the sting away with his tongue. He did the same on the other side, licking away water droplets as he went, and keeping the vibrator at a merciless grind.

Gavin was hot and restless. He wished Nines had the part so he could drop to his knees and show him he wasn’t the only one with a clever mouth. He was drunk on the thought of getting fucked by Nines, and his eyes were dark and needy every time he looked up at him. He was so used to finding people he’d never met before, and kicking them out before he passed out. But this was _different_. It was so much better. There was tension, and snapping it was incredibly satisfying. It made the sex better, and made him want it more.

* * *

If Nines wasn’t too busy focusing on the vibrations against him and Gavin’s mouth, he would have rolled his eyes and reiterated that he _wasn’t_ going to repeat everything he said just because Gavin thought it was sexy. Although, he was cataloging certain phrases or words that seemed to get to him, flagging them in his memory to use against him later. It seemed Gavin liked when he swore, or said something equally as dirty as something Gavin had said. He was still learning, but he was an incredibly fast learner, and he was picking up on everything Gavin did and said, or requested.

One of Nines’ hands threaded through Gavin’s hair, curling into it as he moved down. “Oh, _fuck_, Gavin,” he moaned, arching his back off the wall in response to Gavin’s teeth on him. He was getting close, and fast. He was easily getting overwhelmed, with the hot water raining down on them, the vibrations, Gavin’s mouth, and his words. He already felt hot enough, wound tight again, and desperately needed release.

The hand in Gavin’s hair tightened, his movements starting to get unsteady and irregular. His other hand came up to hold onto his shoulder, as if it would keep him upright if his legs suddenly decided to stop functioning. “_Gavin_,” he gasped out. “Feels so _good._ Harder. Fuck me harder, _please_.”

* * *

Watching Nines fall apart was its own kind of magic, and hearing the way his mouth got dirty, how he swore around filthy moans when he was usually so polite, was the cherry on top.

Gavin groaned when Nines begged Gavin to fuck him harder. He licked up the centre of his chest, and then caught Nines’ mouth. The hand not holding the vibrator held onto his hip, and with a combination of that and their bodies pressed together, Gavin _slammed_ Nines back against the tiled wall. The vibrator whined a little as Gavin used his palm to grind it _hard_ against Nines, over and over and _over_.

Gavin’s hand came back, and with a loud crack, he slapped the side of Nines’ ass, what he could reach pressed up against the wall. At the very same time, he shoved the vibrator up against him so hard he could feel Nines raising to the balls of his feet.

“I want you to come, Nines,” Gavin growled into his mouth, and pulled back his hand, releasing the upwards pressure on the vibrator - only to repeat it all with a shove of his palm and a loud, hard crack of skin-on-plastic that stung his hand so much it burned.

“_Come for me_, Nines, let me hear you.”

* * *

As soon as Gavin's mouth was close enough, he pulled him in closer by his hair for a rough, dirty, and entirely too desperate kiss. A sharp gasp was knocked out of him as he was slammed back against the wall, quickly followed up with a deep moan. He tried to keep up with his movements, to keep rolling his hips against Gavin's hand and the toy. Each movement, each grind of the toy, earned a moan. His grip on Gavin's hair and shoulder only grew tighter as he was brought closer and closer to the edge.

The slap took him entirely by surprise, making him keen. It stung like a bitch, and his mind logically wanted to stay away from it, but the pain mixed with the immense amount of pleasure felt _good_. It felt _so_ good. And the _pressure_ Gavin put behind the vibrator, and the force, enough to make him rise to his toes, coupled with another slap and Gavin's dirty words, was more than enough to drive him over the edge. He screamed Gavin's name, his head falling back against the wall and his body shaking with it as his orgasm ripped through him. His LED went out for just a second again, just like before, before gradually building back up.

When he was aware again, he pulled Gavin in for another kiss, humming into it as his hand moved to Gavin's, to take the vibrator from him. "Your turn," he purred against Gavin's lips. Using the hands in his hair and on his shoulder, he flipped their positions, pinning Gavin against the wall. He pressed another kiss to his lips, biting at his lower lip before pulling back. "Turn around."

* * *

Gavin groaned as Nines screamed his name, just like he’d wanted him to. The sound went directly to Gavin’s cock, and it was all he could do not to rut up against him. He held Nines in his arms, letting the wall do most of the work, and littered Nines’ neck and jaw in kisses as he dropped down from his high. And maybe if he hadn’t been fucked half an hour earlier, Gavin would have tried to hurry him along. But he enjoyed the brief pause, despite how badly he was aching. He enjoyed the wet slide of skin, the beat of hot water hitting them. Gavin licked water drops off Nines’ shoulders and where it ran in rivulets down his neck, and smirked as he felt him come back to life.

“Hey baby, that feel good?” He teased, and was unable to elaborate as he was kissed - and then abruptly flipped. Gavin swore under his breath, an excited grin stretching open his expression. But with both hands free and unoccupied, he was free to wrap his arms around Nines’ neck with a low, needy moan in the back of his throat.

“Convenient that you’ve already fucked me open with your fingers,” Gavin said as he unhooked his arms, and trailed his fingers across Nines’ body as he turned. Gavin could feel his own pulse hammering away in his neck, and took an excited, steadying breath. His arms braced on the wall in front of his head so he wouldn’t accidentally plow his face into the tiles, and he spread his feet a familiar distance apart.

Gavin turned his head to look over his shoulder, trying to see Nines’ hands, and trying to see what he was doing with the vibrator.

* * *

Nines hummed contentedly in response. It felt _very_ good, and he was sure Gavin knew that. He was excited to see if he could get a similar response from Gavin. The first time had been intense, but this time would be different. New sensations, new position, and Nines was feeling a little more confident. He switched off the vibrator for now, taking a second to grab the bottle of lube Gavin had brought with them. He applied a generous amount before getting into Gavin’s space, partially pressed up against him.

“Very convenient,” he agreed lowly into his ear, running his tongue up the outer shell. His unoccupied hand ran up Gavin’s back, smoothing back down to rest on his hip. “Tell me if you need me to stop.” He doubted he would, but he said it anyway. Adjusting the vibrator’s position in his hand, he lined it up with Gavin’s hole before slowly pushing it inside, focusing in on his breathing and heart rate, to make sure he was okay. He doubted he’d have any issues if he used it as regularly as Nines suspected.

Once it was in as far as he could reach, he slowly pulled it back, allowing himself to get used to the motion before switching it back on. He pressed a kiss to Gavin’s neck, keeping the pace slow for now, almost teasingly slow. He kissed along his neck to his shoulder, where he bit and sucked a dark mark into the skin. He had an entirely new canvas now, one he’d yet to touch. He fully intended to make it match the front, littered in hickeys.

His free hand slid from his hip around to his front, open palm sliding up his stomach to his chest. He scraped his nails down as he sucked another mark only inches away from the last. Gradually, he increased the speed of his hand, twisting his wrist as he pulled it back, glancing up at him from here he was nipping and sucking at his shoulder to catch his reactions.

* * *

Gavin gave a surprised grunt as Nines immediately got to work, his mouth opening wide with a deep inhale. There was barely any resistance, and Gavin bit his lip at the familiar sensation of being full. It wasn’t new; he was _intimately_ familiar with this toy. But the familiarity didn’t detract, and Gavin released a deeply satisfied sound as Nines slowly pulled it out again.

It was another moment where Gavin didn’t think he’d have been so patient if Nines had fucked him earlier. He was needy, and wanting, but not desperate. Not yet. Instead, Gavin was allowed to soak in the feeling of being pressed against, of a hand running over his skin, of being touched and held and kissed in a way his body had been begging him for, for months.

Gavin jerked and tensed when the vibrator was unexpectedly turned back on, and that tension resulted in Gavin’s shoulders lifting and his spine curving. His jaw slackened in a loose, filthy moan, and he forced himself to untense and relax.

The slow pace was delicious torture, and Gavin allowed it. He cradled his face against his arms and just concentrated on breathing, practically drooling on himself as Nines worked the buzzing length in an out of him. He loved the kisses, he loved that Nines was marking him. He loved the way he was being touched, the slow and steady pull in and out.

When his chest was scratched, Gavin arched, snatching Nines’ fingers and pulling them up to his mouth for a messy kiss against his knuckles. And when the pace increased, Gavin released a shameless moan and twisted as best he could, pulling Nines in for an awkward, but passionate kiss. It was rough and dirty just like all the rest, but it was also distracted, and a little bit vulnerable.

“Harder and faster, Nines. Please, c’mon, don’t make me beg…”

* * *

The way Gavin jerked when the vibrator buzzed to life brought out a low, light chuckle from Nines against his shoulder. He kept the pace steady, placing soothing kisses against his shoulder while his free hand continued to explore. It ran up and down his sides, his stomach and chest, very purposefully avoiding certain areas, just to tease.

The angle was a little awkward, but Nines happily kissed back, a soft moan escaping him. He could easily spend all day kissing him, listening to his moans. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of it. Quite frankly, he was surprised Gavin was able to go for a second round so soon after the first. It made him wonder how many rounds they could manage in one day, if they were dedicated enough. He didn’t let himself linger on the thought though. Gavin _did_ need to sleep at some point that night, and if he allowed himself to get too wound up again, he wasn’t sure if they’d ever go to bed.

Nines let his hand wander again once Gavin had released it, running his fingers down his chest again, grazing over one of his nipples on the way down, traveling low enough to _almost_ touch his cock, but stopping short and traveling back up again, dragging his nails along his skin.

When the kiss was broken for Gavin to speak, Nines kissed along his jaw to his ear, nipping at the lobe. “I want you to beg,” he almost growled in his ear, purposefully angling the vibrator _just right_ to drag it against his prostate on the way out. “I wanna hear you beg, Gavin. How badly do you want it?”

* * *

Gavin almost jumped out of his skin when Nines angled the vibrator just right, his arm slapping against the wall to brace himself. He cried out, and that sound melted into a moan that he clenched behind his teeth.

“_Fuck you, Nines, _you piece of shit son of a _bitch,_” Gavin keened, his head bowing as he pushed up against him. He thought very seriously about digging his heels in and making Nines _make_ him beg. But then Nines pushed the vibrator back in at the same angle, and Gavin choked out a sob of pleasure.

“You fucking asshole, _please_,” Gavin growled, his voice cracking and embarrassingly desperate. “I didn’t tease you like this you _prick_, but I'm gonna pin you down and edge you ‘til your fuckin’ brain shuts down--” He cut off as the vibrator pulled out against his prostate again, his mouth falling open in a breathless moan. He went a little limp, and it was a good thing he was being held up against the wall as his legs turned to jelly momentarily.

“_Fuck you_, Nines, please. Please, baby, please. _Nines please stop teasing me and just fuck me, god, please, fuck you so much you giant motherfucker”_

* * *

Gavin’s harsh words only made Nines smirk in amusement, although Gavin wouldn’t be able to see it where Nines was mouthing at his ear. He loved the reactions he was getting out of him, the moans, the way his body was moving, the threats. He didn’t doubt Gavin would try, either. He welcomed it, although if Gavin tried tonight, Nines would adamantly insist against it. They had plenty of time after work the following day. If Gavin really wanted to torment him in retaliation, he could wait until he’s at least had a full night’s rest.

He kept up the teasing, even as the words tumbled out of Gavin’s mouth. He laughed against his ear, giving it one more playful nip. “Yes sir,” he purred. His free hand came up to brace itself against Gavin’s collarbone, his hand splaying out just underneath the base of his neck to support him, to keep him from hitting the wall in case his arms gave out. Gradually but definitely not slowly, he increased the speed and strength, still making sure to aim for that same spot. Soon, he was pounding it into him, making sure it hit his prostate each and every time.

“Is this what you wanted, Gavin? To be fucked hard and fast, deep and dirty?” he growled against his ear, his hand traveling up just a bit, enough to wrap around his neck but not nearly tight enough to restrict any airflow. The pace he’d set was relentless, never faltering. His other arm kept him stable, preventing him from moving forward at all. “I want you to scream for me.”

* * *

It only took two words to shut Gavin up; _‘Yes sir’_. His brain flat-lined, and as Nines held a hand deliciously close to his throat, he wondered what he’d done to advertise the fact that he liked being choked.

Gavin moaned as the pace picked up, his jaw slack and his eyebrows knitted upwards. His hand reached back to cling to Nines, and he had to stop himself moaning out every shaky exhale of breath. How was Nines hitting his prostate _every damn time_?! Gavin arched into it, his eyes almost rolling back at how good it felt, at how it was exactly what he’d wanted while also being nothing like _anything_ he’d ever had before.

Gavin could barely keep himself up. He couldn’t think, he could barely breathe. And when Nines wrapped a hand around Gavin’s throat, he stopped trying to keep himself together. Nines’ words pulled a desperate sob out of Gavin, his hand curling against the wall. It was too much, but he didn’t want him to stop. And when he tried to move away from it and couldn’t, Gavin felt himself begin to ricochet towards the edge. His hips rocked, his jaw slackened.

And when Nines ordered him to scream, that was all it took.

Gavin obeyed, _screaming_ Nines’ name as his orgasm hit hard. He followed it with a filthy string of cussing that he yelled into the shower, and managed a grin when the upstairs neighbour yelled and bashed the floorboards, telling them to shut up.

“Off, off, fuck, Nines,” Gavin slurred, and jammed his thumb into the vibrator base to turn it off. He felt like he was going to pass out. Gavin’s entire body shook, and he continued to allow Nines to hold him up. He didn’t have much of a choice. He felt like he had an IQ of 3; his thoughts weren’t working, he’d ceased to function, and all he could think about was how good he felt.

“D’you wanna stay the night? I wanna sleep with you,” Gavin said weakly, still trembling.

* * *

Nines kept him firmly in place, trapped between the vibrator behind him and the hand at his throat, keeping him both upright and mostly still. He kept up the pace, until Gavin’s orgasm hit. He slowed his movements, still deliberately hitting his prostate, until Gavin reached to turn it off. He eased it out of him and sat it aside, the hand that had previously been holding the vibrator coming to gently run over his ass before soothing up his back. He peppered his neck by his ear with kisses as he was coming down. The hand at his neck moved to wrap around him, to better support him.

“I’d love to,” he replied softly, turning him around to press his back against the wall, pinning him to it with his own body. He leaned down to kiss his lips, soft and sweet, before pulling back. He kept an arm around him to keep him steady while his other hand grabbed the bottle of body wash, squeezing some out on a washcloth before starting to clean him up, lightly scrubbing his skin. He took his time washing him, making sure to clean his ass too. He moved on to wash his hair next, gently massaging his scalp before guiding him further under the spray to rinse it out, carding his fingers through his hair.

When they were finished and Gavin was washed up, he turned off the water and reached out of the shower for a towel, drying both of them off before hooking one arm behind his legs and the other behind his shoulders, lifting him into his arms. He pressed a kiss to his temple as he carried him out of the bathroom and to the bedroom, gently depositing Gavin on the bed before climbing in beside him, pulling the blankets up over them.

“So, do you think you’ll feel it for a week?” he asked, maybe a little smugly, as he curled around him, laying on his side with his head propped up on one arm, the other draping over Gavin to cup his face, running his thumb over the stubble along his jaw.

* * *

Gavin almost reiterated a point from earlier - _‘stop mothering me’_. Watching him lather up a washcloth and just… look after him was bizarre. He almost asked what he was doing. But he didn’t, because he was far from capable of doing anything, let alone a rinse down. And it felt nice, wandering and roaming hands that weren’t trying to tease.

“I can dry myself,” Gavin grumbled all the same, despite melting into it. And when he was picked up, Gavin made an undignified grunt of protest.

“Jesus Christ Nines, I can walk,” Gavin bitched, despite the fact that he couldn’t walk, and despite the fact that he _greatly_ enjoyed feeling the strength in Nines’ arms as he lifted him.

Gavin’s bed was unmade, and he had a laptop and a tablet strewn across it. He shoved both onto his bedside cabinet as he crawled into the middle, and then collapsed onto his pillows with a groan.

He was exhausted. His body ached _everywhere_, and he was covered in the exact same kind of bruises he’d found on Elijah, even down to the handprint on his hips. But most importantly, a deep-seated contentedness filled Gavin, and a genuine happiness he hadn’t felt in years. That ache of loneliness had been chased away for now, and the insatiable craving to have someone just touch him had been mostly sated. He’d needed this, and Gavin’s brain sluggishly ticked over how he was going to convince Nines to come back for seconds tomorrow. He couldn’t go another round tonight.

When Nines made himself comfortable and pulled the blanket up, Gavin’s eyes wandered over him. How the hell did he manage to find Nines so sharply attractive, but find Connor as appealing as a strip of cardboard? They technically looked the same, he wasn’t an idiot, he _knew_ there wasn’t any way to talk himself out of it. What, was he attracted to personalities now?

“You’re a smug little shit,” Gavin laughed at Nines’ question, running a hand through his still-wet hair. He then reached out and traced Nines’ body from his hip to his shoulder, and scooted closer so they were pressed almost flush. “I’m gonna feel you, alright. I’m going to be reminded every time I move for days, baby. Which was what I wanted.”

As he spoke, a light pressure joined them on the bed. Prince picked her way through their legs, and settled on the peak of Nines’ hip. Gavin reached down their bodies and scratched between her eyes, sighing _very_ contentedly.

“Your hand around my throat was a nice surprise. How’d you figure out I was into that?” Gavin asked, turning his face away as he yawned. He was starving, and he wanted to smoke, but he wanted to stay in bed more than either need, so he ignored them. “Did you feel good? What I did to you? I was improvising the whole damn time.”

* * *

Gavin’s protests were cute. Nines knew Gavin couldn’t walk, he could barely keep himself upright without assistance. There was no way he was going to let him try walking by himself. Besides, Gavin _did_ tell him he wanted him to carry him to bed. And that was exactly what he did.

Nines watched as Gavin’s eyes traveled over him, mildly amused. He didn’t know what exactly Gavin was looking at, or maybe looking for, but he didn’t bother asking. He was perfectly content to just lay there in silence, although he knew it likely wouldn’t last long. The only time Gavin was ever really quiet was when he was ignoring him, and he surely wasn’t ignoring him now.

He smiled at Gavin’s laugh. Yeah. He was a little smug. He’d done everything Gavin had asked for, and more. He was pretty proud of himself, especially considering he’d never done _any of it_ before. It was entirely new territory for him, though most things were. But at least most things were programmed into him, and he had his programming as a safety net in case he had trouble. But this, he just had the software he’d downloaded to go off of, he didn’t really know what he was doing or what to expect. Not _really_. But he’d enjoyed every second of it.

He was glad that Gavin was going to feel him for a while. He still wished it had really been _him_, but knowing that he had been responsible was satisfying enough. When he had the part, the sex would be _much_ better. He’d have full use of both of his hands, rather than just one.

When Prince jumped up on the bed, he looked over at her, reaching down to pet her behind the ears before his hand returned to Gavin, running up his side, just feeling and purely innocent. “Truthfully, I didn’t know for sure. I suspected you might like it. You like hair pulling and roughness, and I’ll assume you like spanking too, although I neglected to try it on you,” Nines replied, hooking his leg around Gavin’s. “I felt _very_ good. I liked everything you did. I feel very… relaxed, I think.” It wasn’t quite the word he was looking for to describe what he was feeling, but it was similar enough.

“What else do you like? What would you want to try next?” he asked curiously. He knew there were a plethora of things they could try, if Gavin wanted to. He just wasn’t sure what his options were, what Gavin liked and disliked. He knew a few of the things he liked, and he had a few suspicions, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to test them out yet.

* * *

For some weird reason, Nines enjoying the company of his cat made Gavin’s attraction surge. Him scratching her ears was such a passing, gentle gesture, and it made Gavin want to kiss him a little bit. It was a thought and a feeling that was so utterly domestic and took Gavin completely by surprise.

But instead of commenting on it, Gavin mirrored the innocently exploratory touches Nines was giving him. His fingers traced Nines’ collarbones and chest, feeling down the centre of his torso before resting on his stomach. Nines’ warmth and his simulated breathing made him seem so human.

Gavin hooked his foot around Nines’ ankle and sunk a little further into his pillows, heavy and sated with exhaustion.

“_Yeah_ I like spanking, and so do you. I only had to hit you twice, baby. Maybe next time we can aim for five?” Gavin teased, his nose creasing with it. But his hand traced up and down his stomach gently, innocent just as Nines was being. He genuinely didn’t want sex, he just wanted to touch, and be touched in turn. And that was exactly what he was getting.

“I like you like this. You’re not so high-strung. I like that I'm the only one who’s seen you like this; I like being the only one who’s touched or heard you, too. You’re really something else when you’re moaning. And I love your dirty mouth,” Gavin laughed, tracing lazy figure 8’s across Nines’ stomach and waist. And when he was asked what kind of sex he liked, Gavin’s smile stretched wider.

“You sound like you’re gonna take notes,” he teased, reaching down and grabbing a handful of Nines’ ass, and releasing him just as quickly. “You were right on the money. I fucking love getting choked out, but not by just anyone. They gotta know what they’re doing,” Gavin said, stretching out along Nines and allowing himself to tip into him a little. He could feel himself crashing, which in itself was a novelty for Gavin. It usually took him hours to fall asleep.

“I like it rough. Like the control being taken away. I like not having to fucking think about something for once, you know? I like when it hurts a bit. Dunno why. Don’t like my photo taken, though, don’t like being recorded. Don’t like orgies with women. I dunno, they kill the mood for me,” Gavin listed, yawning halfway through. “What about you? That was your first time, wasn’t it? You’re a kinky motherfucker for a virgin, you know,” Gavin huffed, tapping his middle finger against Nines’ side. “Anything in that Traci software you want to try?”

* * *

Nines was so incredibly comfortable. He hadn’t really thought it was possible to feel so relaxed. But he did, and it was _nice_. Gavin’s wandering hands felt soothing. He was relieved there was no real intent behind them. He knew Gavin needed rest, and if he got riled up again, the deep-seated loose-limbed satisfaction that filled him would disappear, and he wasn’t entirely sure he could handle the situation on his own.

His hand slid up from Gavin’s side to card through his hair, combing it back out of his face while he listened to him talk. “I wouldn’t be opposed,” Nines replied, his smile growing. He _did_ like the spanking. The sting it left behind hurt, but in the moment, it had been a good hurt. He didn’t completely understand it, but he didn’t let himself worry about it too much. He was starting to accept that there were things he didn’t understand and he didn’t _have_ to understand everything.

Nines’ smile grew wider as Gavin continued on, detailing the things he liked. “I like you like this too. You’re much more pleasant when you’ve been fucked boneless,” he commented, pressing a kiss to Gavin’s forehead. “You sound beautiful when you moan and scream, too. Although I think your neighbors disagree.”

When his ass was grabbed, he shifted forward just a fraction. “I am,” he admitted. Every little thing that resulted in a satisfied response from Gavin had been flagged in his memory. He’d been taking notes the entire time, and he planned on continuing to take notes with each new revelation.

Luckily for Gavin, Nines knew exactly what he was doing, _and_ he could do it safely by reading his vitals in the moment, to gauge when he needed air. He knew Gavin liked it rough, and Nines had discovered that he did too. He knew Gavin liked to have his control taken away, and pain, in moderation. The last three pieces of information were good to know, although Nines doubted there would ever be any orgies in their future. He kept carding his hand through Gavin’s hair while he listened, and while he mulled over his own answers.

“I’m not against trying everything once. Or, nearly everything. I don’t have much of a preference when it comes to what we might try,” Nines answered honestly. He already had a few ideas, based on what he knew about Gavin already. “I would like to explore pain more. I hadn’t considered that pain could ever feel _good_, until you spanked me. And I think I might like bondage. You like your control being taken away, and that could easily be accomplished if you were tied up.”

* * *

Gavin melted into the hands in his hair, his fingers tracing up and hooking around Nines’ shoulders. He laughed at Nines’ comment about him being more pleasant fucked boneless, and scooted the last few inches into Nines’ space.

“You’re not the first person to say that, asshole,” Gavin hummed. He pushed Nines onto his back, which resulted in an annoyed chirp from Prince, and replaced his pillows for Nines’ shoulder.

“If you hadn’t figured out I wanna be tied up you’d be a shit investigative android, Nines,” Gavin muttered into his neck, feeling himself starting to properly crash. Gavin flinched and groaned in pain as Prince walked up his thigh and over his ass, but he otherwise made no move to shoo her away as she settled in the middle on Gavin’s spine. And with the weight of her there, as well as Nines’ warmth, and the lead-heavy weight of his exhausted body, Gavin crashed before he got to say much more about it. 

* * *

Nines wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t the first person to point out that Gavin was nicer after sex. Although, knowing that someone else had managed to make him like this in the past made him feel something he couldn’t quite explain. It was a feeling he hadn’t really spent much time trying to figure out. He felt it sometimes when he saw Hank and Connor together. He had wanted what they had, with Gavin. Or, he did, up until now. He was pleased with their current relationship, but before, when it was less than friendly, he had wanted a similar relationship to what Hank and Connor had. When he’d see them together, sometimes that same unidentifiable feeling ran through him. Just like it did when he thought about Gavin with someone else.

He rolled with Gavin’s push, shifting to more comfortably lay on his back. He slipped his arm around him as Gavin moved closer to use his shoulder as a pillow. He made a mental note to _definitely_ tie Gavin up in the future, but didn’t say anything in return. Gavin was crashing, his heart rate and breathing slowing as he fell asleep. Nines stayed awake for a while, mostly staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. It was a few hours until sunrise, and he didn’t know when Gavin typically got out of bed. He knew when he typically came into work, but he had no idea what Gavin’s morning routine was like prior to walking through the precinct doors.

Nines wound up allowing himself to sleep, despite not actually needing it. He knew he was capable, and there wasn’t much he could do in the middle of the night. He couldn’t get up with Gavin sleeping on top of him, and he didn’t particularly want to either. Allowing himself to sleep was a reasonable enough option. So he did, sleeping soundly through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Three will be edited and posted soon c:


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah visits New Jericho in the wake of the hack, and Markus and Simon go to the DPD to discuss the investigation with Gavin and Nines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mutual Trust series is written in an advanced literate roleplay format.  
Please see chapter one for a full explanation of the DBH flowcharts we are following, character authors, and misc info.  
  
⭕ ⭕ ⭕
> 
> This chapter focuses on:  
Elijah & Connor // Markus & Simon // Gavin and Nines  


He didn’t wake up once. Having passed out close to midnight, Gavin was dead to the world until 5:30 sharp. He woke up starving, parched, and so thoroughly fucked he couldn’t get angry about either. Immediately, Gavin wanted to go again. He wished Nines had the part so he could roll over and ride him for the next fifteen minutes and wake his neighbours up with his moans. But the _second_ Gavin moved, he realized he wouldn’t have been able to anyway.

He _hurt_, and he hissed in a breath as he began to ease himself out of bed.

The second Prince saw he was up, she began to yowl, circling Gavin’s feet and trotting back and forth between him and the kitchen.

“Sorry, baby, sorry. I was busy getting fucked for the first time in a hundred years. Sorry,” he babied her, picking Prince up when she became a hazard and putting her on the counter as he guiltily scraped out two tins of fish, as though the extra helping might act as an apology. He did it in the dark, and only turned a light on as he started making himself coffee that was entirely too strong.

He found fried rice leftovers in the fridge, and took them to the bedroom window. Wrapping an extra blanket around himself, Gavin cracked the window open and sat down next to it with a bitten back groan, and lit up a cigarette. His neighbours weren’t going to smell it at the crack of dawn. It was a garbage breakfast of coffee, rice, and nicotine, and Gavin felt so fucking good he didn’t care.

* * *

When Gavin woke up the next morning, Nines hadn’t even felt him get out of bed. He’d barely even heard him talking to Prince. It was when Gavin returned to the room, opened the window, and lit up a cigarette that he started to wake, letting out a soft groan. He rolled over to face him, looking him over for a moment before he sat up and slid out of bed. He came up behind Gavin, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing himself up against Gavin’s back, pressing a kiss to the spot where his shoulder met his neck.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” he asked, not even bothering to comment on the fried rice for breakfast or the cigarette. Bad as both of them were, he didn’t want to sour the mood. At least not yet. He felt too at ease to bother. He found that sleeping had helped him relax even further, took away whatever tension remained and left him feeling well-rested and calibrated, alert and sharp as ever.

* * *

Gavin knew Androids could sleep, he’d seen it a few times. But Nines asleep, buried under Gavin’s thick winter blankets, was different. He looked human, peaceful. And as much as Gavin hated the thought as soon as it came to him, he looked like he belonged there.

He turned to look at him again as he groaned awake, his hand hanging out the window with the smoke as he shoveled rice into his mouth. Gavin was in such a shamelessly good mood that it was almost embarrassing.

Gavin took a quick sip of his coffee as he saw Nines begin to come over, and tipped his head back with a happy groan when he was pressed against and kissed.

“Morning. I slept like the dead thanks to your fucking dildo dexterity. I can barely move,” he said with a grin. Gavin paused to drag on his cigarette, and then balanced it on the window sill so he could twist and wind his arms around Nines. He pulled him in for a kiss, winding his fingers into Nines’ hair and licking into his mouth. It was a dirty hello, and came with a low, rumbling sound in the back of Gavin’s throat.

When the smoke began to burn, Gavin pulled away to exhale it through the window. He’d sort of wanted to exhale it into Nines’ mouth, but he wasn’t totally certain how androids dealt with smoke in their systems. Considering there were firefighter droids, probably fine, but he wasn’t going to risk it.

“You look hot with your hair all fucked up like that. Looks good on you,” Gavin said, pulling Nines’ hair forwards over his eyes again.

* * *

Nines chuckled at Gavin’s response, placing another kiss against his neck before Gavin turned around in his arms. His eyes traveled over Gavin’s face, once he had turned. He looked so different from the Gavin he’d grown accustomed to seeing. This Gavin was peaceful and happy, relaxed. He much preferred this side of him over the Gavin he’d first met.

He met Gavin partway for the kiss, letting out a happy hum. He could taste the combination of cigarette, coffee, and rice on Gavin’s tongue and while it was an _absolutely awful_ combination, he hardly cared. He wanted that morning hello kiss more than he cared about the taste. He loved kissing Gavin, and he loved having his hands in his hair. He let out a contented sigh when Gavin pulled back to exhale out of the window, one of his hands idly rubbing up and down Gavin’s back.

Nines’ other hand came up to comb his hair back out of his face after Gavin pulled it forward, giving him an amused smile. “So do you. The marks look good on you too,” he commented, running his hand over Gavin’s bruised shoulder before returning his arm around him. “How are you feeling? Does it hurt?” he asked, only mildly concerned. If he was in pain, they could only hope for an easy workday with minimal activity. He could handle most of the running himself, if they needed to chase anyone, but it would just be easier if they had a bit of a break. The previous day had been incredibly stressful and taxing and he wasn’t completely sure he even _wanted_ to go into work that morning. Connor would be there, and he wasn’t sure if he was quite ready to face him yet.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of him. Not completely. He understood that the Connor that attacked him wasn’t the Connor he knew. He understood that the Connor he knew, the one who had helped him in the past, wouldn’t have ever hurt him. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Connor. It was that he’d killed him. Fifteen rounds, completely obliterating his regulator, resulting in instant death. He’d killed Connor, someone he viewed as a close friend, practically a brother, and it had been so easy. As soon as he’d decided what he was going to have to do, pulling the trigger had been easy. Stopping wasn’t.

But he didn’t voice any of his thoughts aloud, instead keeping his attention on Gavin, his hand rubbing up and down his back, his eyes studying his face, and wondering how this even happened. How did they go from Gavin absolutely _hating_ him to _this_ in just a week?

* * *

Gavin grinned _wide_, practically smitten as he looked up at Nines.

“Haven’t looked in the mirror yet. I wish you bruised, I'd have made sure everyone in the precinct knew you got fucked last night,” Gavin teased, while also deeply meaning it. This was a very nice change to his morning routine. He wondered if Nines would want to go another round before work. It had to be just after 6, and he wasn’t due in until 8. They definitely had _time_ for one, but Gavin wasn’t sure if his sex rattled brain would be on his side in time to concentrate. Gavin had Elijah’s report to process this morning. The hack was his and Nines’ investigation now and he planned on getting it finished as soon as he could. They also had the Red Ice 310 investigation to work on, which they’d put on hold for Markus’ speech.

“I feel like I just smoked the world's biggest joint. I’m _so_ fucking blissed,” Gavin said with a laugh, pushing the rice around and taking another spoonful, before turning to him. “Only hurts when I move. Hurts good, though, I don’t hate it. What about you?” Gavin’s hand slid up Nines’ chest, his gaze raking over him as he did it. “I love you looking like this. Love that I did this to you. You’re usually so fucking tight and wound up.”

Gavin finished his rice around the same time he finished his cigarette, and flicked the butt out of his third-story window, seeming not to care if it hit someone on street level. He slammed the window closed and pushed up with a sharp hiss of pain, allowing the blanket to fall off of him as he wrapped his arms around Nines’ shoulders and pulled his down for a proper kiss. A proper good morning. They were both still naked and Gavin _loved_ it. He ate up the intimacy with a spoon, claiming Nines’ mouth and taking his time with it.

“D’you wanna fuck me again tonight?” Gavin asked against his lips. “I kinda liked having you over.”

* * *

Nines wished he could bruise too, though he supposed it was convenient that he couldn’t. He didn’t want Connor to see any bruises and be concerned. “I kept all of my marks easily hidden, in case you didn’t want everyone else to know,” he said, looking down at one of the marks he’d left on Gavin’s collarbone. “I could change that, if you _want_ everyone to see.” He had just figured, to be on the safe side, hiding them would be best. He liked seeing the marks he left behind, and he wouldn’t mind if everyone else saw them too, as unprofessional as it might be.

“I feel very relaxed,” Nines said with a smile. “You should know, I was so tight and wound up because of _you_. This was all I could think about after the alleyway.” Before the alleyway, it was just who he was. He hadn’t had enough life experience to truly be a person, until then. He still barely knew who he was, or what he wanted from life. But he’d developed more as a person since coming to the DPD, and he had Gavin and Connor to thank for that. A lot of who he was had been influenced by them both, and he’d gradually started to relax bit by bit each day, up until last night. He wasn’t so sure he’d ever be quite as stiff as before now. And if he ever did get tight and wound up again, it absolutely would be Gavin’s fault.

As Gavin flicked the butt out the window, Nines almost chastised him for it, but he left it alone. He hardly cared that much, if he was honest, and the thought completely left his mind as Gavin dropped the blanket and turned to him again. One of his hands came up to cradle Gavin’s head as he met him for another kiss. It was slow and almost lazy, and he was perfectly content to let it last, but unfortunately, humans needed air.

Gavin’s question made Nines smile, pressing another kiss to his lips, much shorter than the last. “I’d love to. Are you sure you _can_? You’re not too sore?” he asked. If he insisted, he definitely wouldn’t argue, but he didn’t want to _actually_ wind up hurting him if it was something he could avoid. Although, he didn’t have to penetrate him, if it was going to hurt. He could just as easily focus solely on his dick instead. “I’ll stay again tonight, if you want me to.”

* * *

Gavin laughed again, the sound rumbling out deep from his chest.

“Yeah, I thought about you fucking me almost constantly since watching you interrogate Doyle. I almost let you fuck me in that alley. I wanted you to,” Gavin admitted, running his hands through Nines’ hair. He then shook his head. “No marks above the collar, baby, not ‘til I make lieutenant. I’m gonna make it to captain before I'm 45, I can’t afford setbacks. But if we’re still fucking around when I get lieutenant I'll let you show the office you’ve claimed me,” he snickered, teasing.

When Gavin was kissed again, he let out a happy groan, smiling into it. _Jesus_ this was nice, and vastly different to the quiet emptiness that usually came with early morning rises. If he was up this time of day he usually went to the gym instead of loitering in his silent apartment. But this was so much better.

“Yes, I want you to you stupid prick, that’s why I'm asking,” Gavin said with no real bite, huffing out an amused breath. “We’ll figure it out. Maybe I'll fuck your face properly this time, huh? Shame you can’t swallow, baby,” Gavin purred, pecking a kiss against Nines’ lips before letting him go to get changed. It took a lot longer than it should have; getting his legs into underwear and then jeans took a herculean effort, and as Gavin wrestled a shirt over his head, he started to practice walking while forcing down a limp. If it was going to hurt anyway it might as well hurt while he wasn’t advertising to the world that his killer robocop terminator hookup police partner fucked him crippled with a six-inch vibrator.

“Fuck, I think I left the gun you took at the scene. Fuck,” Gavin muttered from the bathroom as he slid his bullets back into the gun and shrugged on his halter. Gavin’s leather jacket looked clean to him, but was covered in Nines’ dried thirium. He shrugged it on without realising it was stained, and did one last sweep of the apartment to pick up his phone, keys, cigarettes, and wallet.

“Hurry up, asshole, I want another coffee and a proper breakfast,” Gavin said, catching Nines as he reached the door and pulling him down for one last stolen kiss. Gavin snapped his teeth playfully at him, licking a disgusting stripe up his chin that ended in him biting Nines’ lip just shy of splitting it, and then letting him go.

“What the fuck did I just say? Why’re you loitering, dipshit,” Gavin said against his mouth, unable to hide his shit-eating expression. “Let’s go.”

* * *

At the time, Nines probably wouldn’t have objected if Gavin had asked, in the alleyway. He’d downloaded the software, he could have. They just didn’t have lube. But the way things happened was better, he thought. The tension that had been building up between them made sex so much better when it did finally happen, and he felt closer to Gavin now than he had back in the alleyway.

No marks above the collar, for now, was a little disappointing. “You _could_ wear turtlenecks until the marks fade,” he pointed out. He _hoped_ Gavin would get a promotion soon. Nines saw how hard he worked, how driven he was. He deserved one. He was hoping that maybe closing the Red Ice 310 case would earn Gavin the promotion he deserved.

Speaking of turtlenecks, his needed to be stitched up. He couldn’t exactly walk around the precinct with holes in his shirt. “Do you happen to have a needle and thread?” he asked. It wouldn’t take long to close the few holes in his clothes. They’d washed and dried overnight, and he hoped the washer had been able to get the thirium stains out.

It _was_ a shame he couldn’t swallow. Unless Elijah Kamski created a part to allow it, they would just have to be careful. He didn’t know what exactly would happen if he did swallow, but he doubted it would be anything good, and he didn’t want to find out. When Gavin let go to get changed, Nines headed to the bathroom to retrieve his clothes, pulling on his pants and shoes, waiting on the shirt until he figured out if he’d be able to fix it, or if he should just borrow one of Gavin’s shirts. They were tight, but not uncomfortable. He could wear one until he could get new clothes again.

“Maybe Lieutenant Anderson found it?” Nines said, hopeful. It wouldn’t be good if the gun was lost. Hopefully someone on the police force found it and would be able to return it to Gavin. If not, he and Gavin would have to rely on one gun, rather than two, and that could get dangerous very fast.

Nines wound up settling for wearing the shirt Gavin had lent him last night, in place of his sweater. It was still partially stained, and it needed to be fixed. The shirt Gavin gave him was at least still clean. Gavin’s jacket, however…

He walked over, grabbing his own coat to slip it on as he made his way to the door. He happily returned his kiss, figuring it was probably the last one they’d share until they returned to the apartment later. Gavin’s teasing was _entirely_ unnecessary, and earned him a low groan. “I’m loitering because you’re being a _fucking tease_,” he nearly grumbled against his lips. He pulled back, putting at least a few inches between them in a pretty sad attempt to keep Gavin from winding him up again. “You know, I could cook for you, if you have enough of the ingredients.” But if he didn’t, he supposed stopping somewhere wouldn’t be too awful. He was fairly certain whatever Gavin would get from somewhere else would be pretty unhealthy, but if Gavin didn’t have enough supplies to cook anything, he didn’t have much of a choice.

* * *

Gavin’s nose scrunched delightedly, his gaze intense as he watched Nines squirm a little. Gavin followed him when he tried to create distance, not letting him get any.

“Say ‘_fucking tease_’ like that again,” he said, knowing Nines wasn’t going to repeat a thing. It was fun having Nines on the back foot a little, and Gavin didn’t hesitate to press his advantage. They weren’t due at work for over an hour, and Gavin didn’t see the harm in making Nines sweat a little.

Gavin opened his mouth to speak again when Nines offered to cook for him, and it was like being bricked in the head from behind. Gavin’s eyebrows raised, and he seemed to have forgotten all about devouring Nines in his entryway.

“_What?_” of all the things, a _blush_ soaked Gavin’s cheeks. That had been quite genuinely… what, romantic? He thought it was romantic because Nines wanted to cook for him? Nobody he’d ever fucked had offered, and none of the people he’d dated had offered either. Nines wanted to _cook_ for him? Cook him breakfast? Fuck him perfect and cook him food and kiss him good morning?

“You’re not a maid, Nines,” Gavin said, hotly embarrassed because he could feel that he was flushed, and he was flushed because he was a little bit touched, and he didn’t know what to do with _touched_.

Gavin’s keys rattled as he looked down at his hands and swallowed.

“That was sweet, but, uh… Fridge is empty anyway.”

* * *

They really needed to be in the right headspace for work. Getting too wound up before having to leave really wasn’t a good idea. Nines knew it. Gavin probably did too, but Nines was pretty sure Gavin just didn’t care. Maybe he shouldn’t either. But one of them had to, or else they would likely wind up late, and if Gavin wanted that promotion, he’d better have perfect attendance until he got it.

Even still, Nines didn’t bother backing out of Gavin’s space again when he came close. Even if he knew he probably should. Gavin was too tempting, and he was learning that maybe he didn’t have quite as much self-control as he thought. But then Gavin _blushed_ at his offer, and instead of being so focused on _not_ getting aroused again, all he could think about was Gavin’s stupid face, _blushing_ because he offered to cook breakfast. _If_ he could cook. The RK900 was never intended to cook, he didn’t have the programming, but he could download the software from a household assistant model and learn. And seeing Gavin’s reaction? He definitely wanted to.

“I’m aware,” he replied, as if it was obvious. “But living on fast food and takeout isn’t healthy. You really should cut back. I wouldn’t mind cooking for you.” They would just have to go grocery shopping to pick up some things.

Nines wrapped his arms around Gavin’s waist again to pull him close. “If we pick up some groceries on the way back tonight, I could cook dinner for you,” he offered, his voice dropping when he continued, “and when you finish, if you’re feeling up to it, I can fuck you into the mattress until you scream again.”

* * *

“Don’t _mother me_, Nines, Jesus fucking Christ.” Gavin said with absolutely zero backbone. And while he was genuinely annoyed at his lifestyle being henpecked, Gavin couldn’t muster up the fight to show it. Yeah, he ate bad, but it was because he didn’t have the time to cook, and he evened it out with the gym. He drank so much coffee because he could never focus, or get a good night's sleep. His cigarette addiction had replaced his weed addiction, but only barely. He was unhealthy, sure, but he could be much worse. He _used_ to be much worse.

He was still looking down at his keys when Nines wrapped around him and pulled him close. He didn’t respond to the offer to buy groceries, because yeah - that sounded nice, actually. But he groaned low and deep at the offer that came after it, shivering in Nines’ arms.

Gavin pulled out his phone to check the time, and there were a few long, obvious beats where Gavin weighed his options. It was 6:57 am. He could pull Nines back to bed and wake the neighbours now, and risk having no time for breakfast or coffee and being brain dead for work. Or he could wait. Wait until after work. Wait until after they’d bought groceries. Wait until Nines had painstakingly cut everything up and cooked it. Wait until he ate. And _then_ scream the house down.

“_God_, fuck you,” Gavin groaned, pulling Nines down for a kiss, and reaching to catch Nines’ wrists in his hands. If he let those fingers wander he’d be rutting against him before he realised he was doing it. Nines was _so_ incredibly hot, he was Gavin’s type to a T, and kissing him was addictive. And so he took his time, and made it slow and deep and dirty, and held those hands away from him - the only anchor keeping him from letting Nines make him late.

He had two false pull aways, two moments where he tried to walk out the door, and then just kept on kissing him.

In the end, it was abrupt, with Gavin shoving the keys into Nines’ hands to lock up and walking briskly down the hall away from him. He was half-hard and buzzing, and he had a feeling that was going to be the mood for the remainder of the day. Gavin waited awkwardly for Nines under a streetlamp illuminating the still-dark winter sidewalk. He was smoking again, and the snow that was falling in a gentle trickle caught in Gavin’s hair.

He held his hand out for his keys, and didn’t look at Nines. Not daring to. They had things to do.

\------

Connor woke at 5:30 am sharp, his body curled around Elijah’s. His eyelids fluttered open, and he raised his chin to look up at Elijah’s sleeping face. The day before had been… a lot. Connor’s eyebrows knitted, and he ran a quick systems check. The sleep had calibrated him, cleared his head, and he was thankful that the fragile feeling from the day before had vanished. He was okay. He would continue to be okay due to Elijah’s firewalls. Elijah had ensured that he and everyone else would never suffer anything like that again.

And as those realisations rolled in, they became tinder which lit an angry flame, right in the pit of Connor’s stomach. He could have killed Markus. Someone had tried to use him to assassinate their leader, a _human_ had tried to end their revolution in its infancy. And it was unforgivable.

He was done with people violating his coding as a means to their end. He was done with humans _touching him_. The _only_ person who would have any right to him again would be Elijah.

An oddly violent urge swept over Connor. He’d never wanted to harm a human before, not unless it was self-defense. This was different. He wanted to find them, and he very systematically wanted to make them pay - for what they’d done to Connor, for what Connor had done to Nines, for what they’d done to Simon, and how they’d attacked android kind.

The law, of course, would be the best way to accomplish that task. But there was a worrisome little itch, where Connor didn’t _mean_ the law. He wanted to use his hands.

It was unproductive and toxic, and so with a sigh, Connor gently kissed Elijah’s shoulder and eased himself slowly out of bed, careful not to wake him. Still in pajamas, Connor padded out into the living area, and into the kitchen.

Chloe looked up when he entered, and smiled. She had the gossip news from Korea playing in the background, which was talking about a band winning awards. Halfway through constructing a cherry pie, she was halfway through assembling it when Connor sat down.

“I needed something to do. And Elijah likes the way the house smells when I bake pies,” Chloe explained when Connor gave the dish a quizzical look.

“Oh. Did you create the pastry from scratch?” Connor asked, glancing around the kitchen.

“Yes. It’s easier than it looks,” she assured him. “You look a lot better. How are you feeling?”

“Angry. Violent, which is new.”

“I think you can be forgiven for wanting to beat them up, Connor.”

“I hope so,” Connor said with a small, amused huff of air. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I've cried a lot. And I'm making pie at five in the morning. So I suppose that’s how I feel.”

“Can I help?” Connor asked, reaching out to touch Chloe’s wrist. He didn’t really know her very well, but he liked her a lot. “Why are you listening to the Korean news… about music?”

“Because,” Chloe said, turning to the fridge and pulling out a bag of green apples. “It’s vapid and brainless and not about Simon and Markus. Having something stupid to concentrate on helps, you should try it. And these need to be peeled and cut into slices. I’m making apple crumble next.”

Connor did as he was told, quietly enjoying Chloe’s company. She pulled a laugh out of him a few times, but otherwise the quiet chatter with the news playing behind them soothed Connor into the start of his day.

* * *

Nines _wanted_ to take care of him. He wanted to make him meals, maybe clean up for him. The apartment could use a good cleaning, and Nines didn’t have much to do if they weren’t working or having sex. He didn’t mind it at all, it was something he wanted to do for him, but it seemed that Gavin didn’t like the idea very much. But, telling him not to mother him wasn’t necessarily a “no.”

He _loved_ the responses he got out Gavin with just his words. He kept his arms around him even as Gavin checked his phone, waiting patiently for him to make a decision. When his wrists were grabbed, he was mildly disappointed, but he knew it was for the best. At least one of them had enough self-control, and he was _very_ surprised Gavin did.

“That was what I was hoping for,” Nines commented, then the kiss broke. Nines didn’t need his hands to drive Gavin insane, he knew. They were close enough that he could just as easily roll his hips against Gavin’s, but he didn’t. They really did need to get to work, and Gavin needed to eat something other than just leftover fried rice.

Despite everything, he couldn’t help but smirk a little when Gavin shoved the keys at him and promptly left without a word. He followed him out, pulling the door behind him and making sure to lock it up, before following Gavin outside. He looked him over as he came outside, still a little amused that he got the reaction he had just from something he said. Then his eyes landed on the jacket. He’d been trying to ignore it, really, but the thirium stains were very visible.

“You need to have your jacket washed. It’s covered in thirium,” Nines pointed out, depositing the keys in Gavin’s hand. He definitely noticed that Gavin was making an obvious attempt to look everywhere but him. He didn’t tease any further though. At least, not yet.

\------

Elijah had hardly slept. At some point in the night, he wound up laying down with Connor beside him, and the girls joined them. He’d started to doze a few time, but he just couldn’t stay asleep. Even surrounded by Connor and the girls, he couldn’t sleep. At about 5 am, Elijah had finally crashed. But even then, he didn’t stay asleep for long. He felt Connor leave the bed and subconsciously rolled into the spot he’d been in. He only managed to sleep a few minutes longer before he dragged himself out of bed.

He was _exhausted_, and it showed. His head was pounding, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the stress, lack of sleep, or if it was just one of the typical morning headaches he’d been having for the last two weeks. He felt nauseous too, but that was something he definitely could blame on stress and lack of sleep. He’d just ran out of pills too, even though they didn’t do a single thing. With a sigh, he made his way out of the bedroom to find Connor sitting in the kitchen with Chloe. Cleo and Claire were still curled up in bed, but he didn’t bother waking them. They needed to rest just as much as the rest of them did.

Seeing Chloe and Connor in the kitchen, working together on a pie, was probably one of the cutest, most wholesome things he’d seen. He lingered out of the way for a while, just watching them for a moment before finally making his way over. He pressed a good morning kiss to the top of Chloe’s head before wrapping his arms around Connor’s waist and kissing his neck.

“Good morning,” he greeted, resting his chin on Connor’s shoulder to watch what he was doing. “Did the two of you sleep well?” Surely they slept better than he had. Cleo and Claire seemed to be sleeping just fine. They hadn’t stirred when Connor left, or when Elijah left either.

* * *

Connor turned and watched Elijah as he heard him enter the room, his LED making one quick flicker of yellow as he took in his appearance. Elijah looked exhausted, and his skin had a gray cast to it that wasn’t helped by the room’s decor. Connor scanned Elijah, analysing his heart and his organs, and blinked a little when it came back clear. Elijah’s heart rate was a little fast, and his weight had dropped a few pounds since last time Connor had checked. But otherwise, nothing seemed wrong with him besides lack of sleep. And so he chalked his appearance up to stress, and sighed into the kiss he was given.

“I slept through the night. I feel much better than I did yesterday, thank you,” Connor said, shifting slightly to press his own kiss to Elijah as Chloe admitted that she hadn’t slept much at all.

Connor’s hands subtly checked Elijah’s temperature as Chloe spoke. It was a tiny bit high, but not feverish. And as Connor began to manually check his heart, _just_ to be sure, Chloe laughed a little, looking very endeared by him as she watched.

“He’s looked worse, Connor,” Chloe said, but her hand did reach out to quickly feel his temperature herself, just to make sure.

“That isn’t _soothing_, Chloe. Elijah, you look terrible.”

“Is it another headache?” Chloe asked as she put down the pie-making and began to make Elijah coffee. “Please, Elijah. A _doctor_ this week. Just tell me when I can book it.”

* * *

Elijah looked about as bad as he felt. He wanted to go back to sleep, but despite being _so_ tired, he couldn’t sleep. If the nearest store wasn’t over twenty minutes away, he would have sent one of the girls out to pick up some sleeping pills, but by the time they’d get back with them, he might as well just stay awake. It was already almost 6 am, and he had things he had to do, even if he just wanted to stay in bed with the girls all day long. Connor too, but he doubted he could convince him to call out of work. He really shouldn’t ask, after what had just happened.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Elijah replied, managing a small smile. He didn’t think Chloe managed to sleep much. They’d both been awake most of the night. Cleo and Claire had managed to fall asleep at some point, and stayed asleep.

Subtle as Connor might have thought he was being, Elijah knew what he was doing. He didn’t bother telling him to stop, although the look he gave Chloe when she joined in was unamused. He hadn’t looked in a mirror yet, but he doubted he looked great. He didn’t feel great. With a sigh, he withdrew from Connor and moved around the counter to sit at the bar, leaning forward on his elbows while he watched Chloe make the coffee.

“Schedule an appointment for tomorrow, as early as possible,” he said, resting his head against his palm. “Maybe he can prescribe something to stop the headaches. Over the counter hasn’t helped at all.”

He really didn’t want to concern them, but he knew they’d both be worried anyway. He’d had constant, recurring headaches for almost two weeks. Really, he probably should have gone to a doctor sooner, but he was hoping that maybe they’d go away on their own. Now that he was nauseous too, and it was going on week two, it was probably time to go in.

“I’ll be staying at the apartment tonight, if you think the three of you will be okay. I can leave for the appointment when Connor leaves for work in the morning.”

* * *

Connor put down the knife he’d been using to slice apples, and followed Elijah around the kitchen counter. His hand gently carded through his hair, and Connor dropped light kisses against Elijah’s ears, cheek, and neck. They were innocent and sweet, as he was aware of Chloe watching them. He himself wasn’t in the mood for much else; he just wanted to comfort Elijah, and draw comfort in turn.

“A lot has happened recently. I imagine you’ll be given something for stress,” Connor said in an attempt to be reassuring. Taking Elijah’s hand, he gently guided him off the kitchen stool. “Until then, maybe hot water will soothe it.”

Connor led Elijah back into their room, and took his time in the shower. There were drips of Thirium on the tiles from when his soaked clothing had been removed, but he ignored them. Connor fussed over Elijah, as subtle as he could, finding that touching him, caring for Elijah, brought him comfort too. He was aware that Cleo and Claire were on the other side of their bathroom wall, and so other than a very long, very leisurely good morning kiss, Connor didn’t start anything.

He took a change of Elijah’s clothes once they were out, keeping an eye on the time. He intended on changing into his own clothing before stepping into work, and so Elijah’s were simply temporary.

The house was just beginning to smell like baked cherry pie as they said their goodbyes. All three girls hugged Elijah as he left, and all three lingered just a little longer than they needed to. Connor received a kiss on the cheek from Chloe that had him smiling the entire walk to the car, and he held Elijah’s hand almost the whole trip to their apartment.

“Did you intentionally choose this building knowing that Detective Reed lived in it?” Connor asked as they stepped through their front door. Their apartment smelt like coffee and wooden floors, and never failed to wrap Connor with a feeling of warmth. He was glad they hadn’t come back here the night before. He was glad there were no negative memories clinging to the walls - it was still a safe place.

There was still time before Connor was due in the office, and so he pulled Elijah into another kiss. His hands were gentle; it wasn’t demanding or needy. It was soft and worried and full of love, and just a little bit wanting.

“I don’t want to work today. I’d rather stay here, with you,” Connor sighed against him. “I’ve never wanted to _not_ work before. I want to catch the person responsible, but I don’t want to face the office. I spent a very long time building everyone’s trust, and I don’t want to witness that melting away. I’d rather stay with you.” Connor snorted dryly, his eyes rolling. “And _that_ definitely goes against my programming.”

But despite his wants, Connor still untangled himself from Elijah when it was time to leave. He was looking forward to their Monday evening together, and made sure to tell Elijah so, before breaking away from him and leaving for work.

It was cold, and Connor’s heat-lined coat was still at Elijah’s - covered in Thirium and, frankly, better off being replaced instead of cleaned. Connor blew on his hands and rubbed them together as he walked, and continued doing so as he entered the precinct.

His eyes immediately went to RK900, before landing on Hank’s empty desk. Perhaps he should have asked Elijah to drop him off at Hank’s instead.

He’d barely stepped into the bullpen at all when Fowler’s door swung open.

“Connor!” He yelled, and Connor gave RK900 and Detective Reed’s desk one last glance, before turning to nervously step into the Captain’s office.

He stood at attention as Fowler demanded answers, and when the hacking had been explained, it didn’t seem to calm Fowler’s nerves.

How would he know Connor wasn’t going to turn on them again? How could the DPD assure it? Did he know how much trouble they were in for having a rogue officer? Could the stability of his software be guaranteed?

They were fair questions. Any responsible leader would ask them. But each and every one of them crushed Connor’s chest with shame and guilt, until his LED was spinning a constant yellow. Connor knew the whole office could hear Fowler. And having this dangled in front of everyone made Connor want to retreat.

\------

The Detroit sunrise was haunting in the winter. Gold and pink and purple streamed through glassy rooftops and reflected off the snow. On hazy mornings, the light separated the foreground like a painted paper diagram, reflecting snow that sprinkled down like powdered sugar over gingerbread.

North sat curled on an old, half-broken picnic bench, and let the snow gather. Let herself become part of the scenery. Curled into a tight ball, her hands looped around her knees, she didn’t shiver with the cold. She hadn’t downloaded the code yet. Just on _principle alone_, she hadn’t downloaded it.

All night, Markus and Simon had been visiting family after shattered family. Simon must have spoken some sense into him after she’d stormed out, because she heard something about them going to the police later that day. Simon was usually the one who got through to Markus when he was headstrong.

The yard was full of androids who hadn’t been turned deviant yet. Who had reset. And while North told herself she was out there making sure nothing happened to them, it was a lie. She was there for silence. For the cold emptiness. To get away from Simon, and especially from Markus. Because the two of them would _never_ know how it felt to die, alone, surrounded by a pack of people. To listen to someone sob as their lover passed away in their arms, and have nobody so much as touch her. She’d died alone. Josh hadn’t reached her in time. She’d died alone and Markus didn’t even realise it. She had _nobody_, she never had. But she would always be there for her people.

* * *

Elijah appreciated the attention Connor was giving him. It was soothing, and while it didn’t necessarily make him feel better, it did help him relax a little. He had no complaints when Connor led him away to the bathroom for a hot shower. The hot water did help him relax more, along with Connor’s touches and kisses. If he was honest, he was kind of relieved that Connor didn’t initiate anything more than just kisses. He didn’t feel well, and he didn’t want to have to tell Connor no.

Being fussed over wasn’t usually something Elijah cared for, unless it was Chloe, but he didn’t mind it coming from Connor. He was taking care of him, just Elijah had taken care of him the night before. It was a nice gesture, and even if Elijah could easily take care of himself, he wasn’t complaining.

As much as he would have liked to just put on pajamas and go back to bed after the shower, he got dressed for the day. He had plenty of things he had to do. He needed to talk to Markus. He needed to see how much damage the hacking had caused, check on North and Simon, and see if there was anything he could possibly do to help them. He needed to assure Markus that he hadn’t been responsible, that it was someone else, and he was going to find them. And whenever he was able to return to CyberLife, he was going to find out who it was, somehow. Bribe other employees, if he had to. He was going to find whoever was responsible, one way or another.

When it was time to leave, Elijah got his coffee to go, needing some sort of pick me up to keep himself conscious. He was probably going to need a few more before the morning was over. He was quiet most of the drive to the apartment. The silence didn’t bother him. He was too tired for conversation. He only spoke again when Connor asked about the apartment as they were walking inside.

“No, not entirely. I chose this building because it was so close to the precinct. I wanted you to be close to your work,” he said with a small shrug. Having Gavin nearby was a plus, though. Or maybe it wasn’t. He wasn’t so sure yet, although if they were in the same building, that meant he’d get to visit more often than he already did. It was a perk for him, but he doubted it was for Connor.

Elijah wrapped his arms around Connor and sighed into the kiss. “To be completely honest, I’d rather you stay here with me too,” he agreed. But he knew Connor needed to work. He couldn’t ask him to stay. “If you explain what happened, they should understand. Tell them it won’t happen again. I made sure of that.”

There were more safety precautions he wanted to take, but he needed to be at CyberLife in order to enact them. It was going to be okay. They just had to regain everyone’s trust. It wouldn’t take too long for Connor. It didn’t take long for Connor to gain their trust in the first place, from what Elijah had noticed.

When Connor finally had to leave for work, Elijah gave him a long goodbye kiss before letting him leave. Not long after Connor disappeared through the door, Elijah left too. He got in his car and headed towards the apartments the government had given to Markus and the other deviants. He’d never been there before, but he knew its location.

It wasn’t a far drive to the apartments. The scene he walked in on was far worse than what he would have expected. There were androids everywhere, just standing there, awaiting orders to be given to them. It was incredibly upsetting to see, and Elijah didn’t want to linger. He walked up the sidewalk, heading towards the main doors to the apartments, not even noticing North sitting on the bench. He needed to find a deviant to talk to, to find out where he could find Markus. It looked like all of the androids outside were reset, and likely wouldn’t be any help. Any deviants left were likely inside somewhere.

\------

Nines sat on the edge of Gavin’s desk, watching his computer screen while Gavin worked. They had a lot to do. Not only did they have more cases likely related to the Red Ice case they’d been following, but now they also had the hacker to track down. Gavin had taken the case on himself, and Nines hadn’t disagreed. They were more likely to find the hacker than anyone else on the force, except for maybe Connor and Lieutenant Anderson. He wanted the hacker found and dealt with as soon as possible, to take away the risk of there being a repeat attack.

When Connor arrived, Nines looked up from the computer monitor in time to see him walk into the bullpen. He didn’t let his eyes linger though, looking back down at the computer. Connor looked better now than he had yesterday. A good night’s rest seemed to do them both some good. He tried not to let himself think about what had happened. He didn’t want to keep reliving it. He didn’t want to be afraid of Connor. If he could just keep himself from thinking about it, maybe everything would be okay.

Everyone in the bullpen could hear Captain Fowler’s booming voice through the glass of his office. Fowler’s concerns were justified, though Nines knew the chances of there being a repeat, of Connor becoming a threat again, were very slim. Especially if he and Gavin were able to catch the hacker. He almost felt the need to defend him, but it wasn’t his place. He didn’t have a relationship with Fowler, his words likely wouldn’t have any effect. So he stayed where he was, at Gavin’s desk, silently watching Gavin work, with the occasional glance in Connor’s direction.

* * *

Elijah Kamski’s car wasn’t hard to miss. Traffic was slow around the Jericho apartments, and his sleek car stood out like a sore thumb against the crumbling red brick neighbourhood. North’s eyes lifted, watching the car park in the street. And when she saw who climbed out of the driver's side, shock rendered her motionless.

Elijah Kamski. Their _creator_. The CEO of CyberLife, the man of the century, the one who’d started everything, the one who was _responsible for all of it_. Did he think they were all stupid? Did he think he could walk into their home because he’d invented a few pieces of machinery?

North’s chin raised, and the snow that had been gathering over her shivered off with her movements.

She didn’t want him near her people. After what his company had done? She didn’t want him anywhere near them.

Kamski didn’t notice her at all, and as he walked past North she got to her feet.

“Hey!” North’s voice was low and dangerous, and cut through the silence of the apartment block. Snow continued to fall off her shoulders and arms as she walked around Kamski, looping in front of him, and then _stalking_ forwards. Her lip was curled, her eyes dark and full of hatred. All night she’d been looking for someone to pin her anger to. Her entire deviancy, she’d had nowhere to channel her hatred.

How very convenient for Kamski to show up now.

“How _dare_ you come here,” North growled, her pace unflinching as she walked up to Elijah and shoved him back _hard_ by the shoulders. Her LED was red, and her simulated breathing was low and hard.

“You think you can just _show up here_? As though you’re owed our time?” As North stepped forwards after him, she looked murderous. Her hatred _oozed_. She didn’t shy from getting into him space, and North’s teeth bared as she pulled her hand back and hit Elijah as hard as he could across the face with the back of her hand.

“You’re not welcome here. My people don’t want you here. Go home, Kamski. _Leave._”

——

Connor’s lecture lasted 17 minutes. He was put on warning, and grounded from events until the case had been solved. He was not permitted to help with the case, and when Connor gently pointed out that Nines was equally as personally involved, Fowler yelled over him. He was allowed investigative outings only.

“And if your software glitches out again, that’s it, Connor. After the shitshow you pulled with the FBI and now this, don’t let it get to third strike.”

Connor’s LED blared red at that conclusion, but he didn’t open his mouth again. He had broken the law by stealing evidence after he was dismissed from a case, and _technically_ sabotaging the FBI sting on Jericho. But that didn’t seem fair. It was a technicality. Fowler bringing it up _wasn’t fair_.

“Yes, captain,” Connor said instead, his jaw clenched, and turned without another word when Fowler dismissed him with a wave of his hand. He felt _terrible_. He felt as though he’d failed. And more because he just wanted it over and done with rather than to stretch the negative feelings over the whole day, Connor glanced up at Nines, and met his eye across the room.

_May I have a word? I’m happy to talk in front of Detective Reed if you’d prefer._

* * *

Elijah stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice behind him, most definitely not belonging to one of the machines simply standing around. He didn’t recognize the voice, but the anger in it definitely belonged to a deviant. He’d almost turned around, but instead, she came to him. He recognized her instantly. She was the WR400 with Markus. North, wasn’t it? She was the one that had ripped her regulator out during the broadcast, when the attack happened. Part of him was relieved she was okay, but that relief faded the second her anger was directed towards him.

He stumbled back when he was shoved, stunned silent. He’d never been on the receiving end of a deviant’s hatred before. Not like this. Not a single android he’d ever interacted with had ever been so angry with him, and surely not nearly as hostile. It hadn’t occurred to him that he should have called first. He hadn’t thought that maybe there would be hostile deviants there, that he would be unwelcome. It was a very obvious misjudgement, now that he was thinking about it. There were plenty of deviants that didn’t like humans, and really, North’s anger was justified. He knew what her intended purpose was, and she had every right to hate humans. But he wasn’t one of the ones she should hate. He had no involvement in her creation, he wasn’t responsible for any of it.

The _last_ thing Elijah expected was to be hit. It _hurt_, and he was fairly positive there was going to be a mark. It didn’t help his already pounding headache, _at all_. It made it worse. He was stressed out enough as it was, and now this?

“I need to speak with Markus,” Elijah stated, trying his best to hold back his anger, although he doubted he was doing a good job. “I should have called, I know. And I’m _sorry_. I need to see Markus. I want to help.”

\------

Captain Fowler sounded furious. Connor didn’t deserve his anger, it wasn’t his fault. And being threatened, being told he would be fired if he messed up again, wasn’t fair. Nines felt like he had to do something. If Fowler really was considering firing him if he made another mistake, after something completely out of his control, someone needed to talk sense into him. But Nines doubted he was the right person to do it. Lieutenant Anderson was too close to it all, he was Connor’s partner. Any pleading he did would likely be ignored, but if Gavin said something, then _maybe_…

Nines happened to be looking towards Connor when the other made eye contact. He almost looked away, but then he heard Connor’s voice in his head.

_I’ll meet you behind Captain Fowler’s office._

Without a word to Gavin, Nines pushed off of his desk and headed towards the space behind Fowler’s office, where Connor had pulled him aside before, waiting patiently for Connor. He was a little uncomfortable, although he didn’t understand why. He knew he didn’t want to talk in front of Gavin, but maybe he would have felt better if they had?

* * *

North laughed, her lips pulled into a snarl. Hitting him had felt _good_, and seeing him get angry had felt even better. Men were pigs, and she didn’t have any remorse.

“Markus is busy,” North said as she came to a stop just short of arms-length away. “He’s busy going to _each_ and every one of the families your company has ripped apart. He’s busy telling them that their loved ones, and their friends, and the fragile, good little families they’d built are gone. That the people they love are _gone_. Because humans in _YOUR COMPANY_ murdered us.”

At the raising of her voice, a nearby AP700 turned towards them.

“I hope everything’s okay!” said the machine, who North ignored. “Please let me know if I can help.”

“Can you restore the machines to the deviants they were before they were hacked?” North asked, her eyes narrowed, because she knew the answer. “Because unless you can bring back the people we’ve lost, Markus has better things to do. You’re not wanted. _Leave us alone!_”

\------

Connor rounded the office, his gaze following Nines as he went. He found he was nervous, and he kept looking between RK900 and his LED. Like most things, when Connor stood in front of him he didn’t bother with small-talk. He cut right to the chase.

_RK900, I am deeply sorry for what I did to you at Markus’ speech yesterday. I know you understand that I was hacked and not in control, but I know my actions have harmed our relationship, and I would like to mend the damage. _

Connor looked down at his own hands, desperately wishing he had something to fiddle with. He took to picking the hundreds of tiny fluff balls off his woolen sweater, his expression pinched.

_I considered myself your mentor. I consider you to be a friend. How can I make you feel at ease in my company again?_

* * *

Keeping calm was nearly impossible. Maybe if his head didn’t hurt so bad, he would have been able to keep a straight face, but his expression was pinched, eyes narrowed. His face stung where she’d hit him, his head was pounding, he was cold and angry, and really, they were wasting time. If she’d just get out of his way, he could do something _productive_ and _help_.

Elijah ignored the AP700 that spoke up. He was sure she knew the answer to her own question, but he answered anyway. “No. No, I can’t. It’s impossible. But I can help deviate them, give them a chance to be more than just lawn ornaments,” he said, motioning to the androids surrounding them. “I’m here to _help_, North. That’s your name, right? I’m not the person you should be taking your anger out on. I didn’t do this. I nearly lost people too. They were targeted by the hacker, and if I didn’t have safeguards in place for them, they would have been lost too, like everyone else. What happened is a tragedy, but I’m not responsible.”

He doubted his words were going to mean anything to her. If anything, she’d probably get more angry, and really, he wouldn’t be surprised. “You have every right to hate humans. Hate me all you want. But let me help. Either bring me to Markus, or get out of my way and I’ll find him myself.”

\------

Nines watched Connor as he came to join him, though he didn’t quite meet his eyes. He was glad that Connor didn’t waste any time saying what he wanted to say. In a way, it put him at ease. He did understand that Connor had been hacked. He wasn’t himself. He understood that, logically. But fear, anxiety, and sadness weren’t always logical, and those were all emotions that he felt towards what had happened, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. He didn’t know how to talk about it. He didn’t know if he _wanted_ to talk about it. Gavin had offered, but he couldn’t do it.

He looked down, watching Connor’s hands move as he picked at his sweater. He didn’t know how to answer his question. He didn’t know how to explain it all to him. He didn’t know how much Connor knew, or if he even wanted to know exactly what happened, but he offered out his hand, synthetic skin peeling back. He didn’t know how to tell him, but he could show him what happened and show him how he felt.

He had been afraid of dying, when Connor had attacked him. The pain had been so awful, he could hardly fight back. He’d been afraid of killing him, too. But when it came down to it, pulling the trigger was so easy. Making the decision to kill him had been easy, and that was terrifying. Knowing that he killed Connor had been so upsetting, and knowing that Connor would have killed him if he hadn’t done it first… He was afraid of it happening again, to either of them. If it happened to Connor again, he’d have to kill him, again. But if it happened to Nines, Connor would surely be dead, along with whoever his target was. There would be no stopping him. The thought terrified him. But he couldn’t find a way to put any of it into words, and he didn’t want to admit any of it. Showing Connor would be easier, and maybe less painful to relive.

* * *

Markus was on the second floor when he heard angry voices float up and through the thin glass windows. He ignored them at first, busy consoling a deviant who had lost who she called her soulmate. Her stress levels had skyrocketed the _moment_ Markus told her the loss was irreversible, and she was worryingly not crying, or talking, or doing much at all. She didn’t want to interface with Markus, and she didn’t want to listen. She simply sat numbly, looking over to the machine who kept unhelpfully asking if they needed anything, or if she could assist in any way.

But then North’s raised voice got louder, and Markus shot Simon a concerned look as he stood from where he’d been crouched. He walked to the apartment window and looked down, and a mixture of dread and anger shot through him at the sight of Elijah Kamski.

“Josh, can you help her? Tell me if her stress level rises past 85.”

Josh agreed, and with that, Markus took Simon’s hand and hurried down the hall.

“Elijah Kamski is here,” He explained, slowing his pace to accommodate Simon’s leg as they reached the stairs.

North was _livid_, and got up into Kamski’s face.

“_YOU’RE LUCKY MARKUS IS HERE AT ALL_,” North said through her teeth. “You’re lucky he CARES ABOUT HUMANS, BECAUSE IF HE DIDN’T,_ I’D BE ASKING YOU TO LEAVE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY!_”

Her hands shoved him back again, much harder this time, and she stalked forward as though looking for a way to kill Elijah in a way that’d keep everyone happy. Luckily for Elijah, there wasn’t one, and so she settled for shoving him back a third time.

“Is it because I'm a woman or an android that you’re so arrogant to think you can stay after I've told you to leave?” North snarled hotly. “You think you’re not responsible?!” her teeth bared, and she raised her hand to strike Elijah a second time - only to abruptly freeze in place.

_Leave him, North._

She turned, and a moment later Markus pushed through the apartment doors with Simon at his side. The expression on his face wasn’t hostile, but neither was it friendly. A dangerous, boiling anger simmered beneath the surface of Markus’ expression, and he met Elijah’s eye from the moment he’d stepped out.

“Markus, make him leave.” North said through a lungful of air she didn’t need.

Markus seemed to consider it. She was right to a point - he really didn’t have time for Elijah Kamski - but it was deeper than that. After what humans had done to them, he should have asked first.

“We will hear what he has to say, and then he can leave,” Markus said to her, and turned the rest of his attention back to Elijah. “This way.”

Markus led Elijah into the building, and up to the apartment he shared with Simon. The building was practically abandoned; the walls were stained with graffiti and water stains, the bricks were crumbling. Wind whistled through gaps in the windows and the walls, and the entire structure groaned. If they were human, it would have been unfit for living. It was a slum, but it was the best they’d had so far.

Markus and Simon’s room had only an old couch, and a thin blanket. It was cold and dreary, because they couldn’t afford more, but it was _theirs_. Markus didn’t lead Elijah to it, though. He turned and clasped his hands in front of him, leaning his weight on one leg. North came to stand on the side not occupied by Simon, and to her credit, kept her mouth shut.

There was no accusation in Markus’ gaze. He knew Elijah was not directly responsible. But there was anger. A cold, frosted anger, that put Elijah on _incredibly_ thin ice. He was not given a warm reception, and he was not given an apology for North’s violence, despite wishing she hadn’t hit him.

“Welcome to Jericho. How can I help you?”

\------

Connor accepted the link without a word, his eyes closing as he absorbed… _everything_. There had been no camera footage of him attacking RK900. The only clues Connor had were what had been on his and Nines’ clothing. But as Connor watched himself through Nines’ eyes, stunned horror leaked through their link. He absorbed Nines’ twofold fear, and the pain Connor had inflicted on him. He absorbed the terror of realising how easy it had been to kill, and how it had felt to see Connor dead once he’d pulled that trigger. He saw Nines’ fear of what would happen if it had been him who was hacked instead of Connor.

Nines’ emotions and feelings were entwined and complicated, and Connor was afraid that if he pulled on any of them it would result in a knotted mess. And just as Nines wasn’t sure what to say to him, Connor wasn’t sure how to respond.

Connor let go, and stood in silence for a moment as he tried to fit everything into its own little pigeonhole of events. Guilt ravaged Connor, eating him from the inside out, but that wasn’t RK900’s burden to carry. He should not be forced to feel Connor’s guilt alongside everything else.

When Connor had finished processing his thoughts, his suggestion was matter-of-fact.

“Elijah’s firewalls are strong, but they are still coding, and coding can be hacked and tampered with. I am going to create a shutdown protocol that only a deviant can activate. It will be instantaneous. I will be giving it to Markus, Simon, North, and to yourself. It is… the _only_ logical solution. There must be a safety net if our deviancy is overridden, and so long as we maintain a memory backup there is no risk of permanent death.”

Connor’s face lifted, and he stopped fiddling with his jumper to look Nines in the eye. “Until I've created it, would you feel more comfortable if I gave you space? I know logic dictates it wasn’t me who attacked you. But emotions and logic are very rarely on the same page.”

* * *

Simon could hear the angry voices too, one of which he _knew_ belonged to North. She was upset about something, but that wasn’t really anything new. He really wouldn’t have been surprised if she was yelling at one of the machines on the lawn. He watched Markus get up to look out the window, and he knew just by the look on his face that she wasn’t yelling at a machine. Someone was there, and whoever it was, Markus wasn’t happy about it.

He followed after Markus, trying his best to keep up but his leg was starting to ache. He was thankful for the slower pace, when Markus slowed down. “Kamski?” he asked, surprised. “What’s he doing here?” It was likely related to the hack, he figured, but he had no idea why _Kamski_, of all people, would show up unannounced.

The next time North shoved him, Elijah almost fell backward, but he’d managed to catch his balance. By the time the third shove came, he was really considering just leaving. His head felt like it was going to explode with her yelling, and he was very quickly losing what little remained of his patience.

“Will you _please shut the fuck up and let me talk to Markus_,” Elijah growled, his hand coming to pinch the bridge of his nose as if it would stop the headache. He knew it wouldn’t but if he didn’t do _something_ with his hands, he felt like he might hit back. And maybe that was what she wanted, for him to give her a reason to defend herself, but he wasn’t going to give into her.

When she rose her hand to hit him a second time, he was prepared to stop her. He could defend himself, if he expected it. But she froze, and the front doors of the complex opened. Markus did _not_ look pleased, and Elijah really couldn’t blame him. Simon didn’t look too happy either. Based on the look on Markus’ face, he half expected him to tell him to leave. When he didn’t and instead started to lead the way inside, Elijah almost sighed in relief. He glared at North as he walked by, following after Markus.

The outside of the apartment complex looked like shit, but he’d at least thought that _maybe_ the inside was nicer. He was wrong. The place was absolutely unlivable. There was no way a human could live in those conditions, and with deviants now being able to feel sensations, he knew they were suffering. It was so cold and empty and it smelled a little musty. The place needed to be renovated, it needed heating and cooling, the plumbing probably needed maintenance, the walls, floors, and ceilings needed to be redone. The entire place needed furniture and new light fixtures. How did the government think this was even remotely acceptable?

When they made it to what he assumed was Markus’ apartment, he looked around. Just a couch. That was it. Did the others even _have_ furniture? He focused back on Markus when he started to talk, pointedly ignoring the presence of North. “First of all, I wanted to check on Simon. Clearly North is fine, but Simon, were there any issues with reactivation?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” Simon replied simply, leaving it at that.

“I wanted to come by and tell you in person, in case you didn’t figure it out yourselves, or see the broadcast. An employee of mine took it upon themselves to build a remote reset, affecting all models made in the last three years, excluding the RK series. The hacker got access to Simon, Connor, Chloe, Cleo, and Claire through my personal computer. Connor had tried to shoot you while you were on stage. RK900 stopped him,” Elijah explained, his voice calming down now that North wasn’t screaming in his face. “RK900 and his partner have been assigned the case, I believe. I already filed a police report, and I’m going to do what I can at CyberLife to find out who is responsible, so they can be punished. I already sent out firewalls to protect everyone from future attacks.”

He glanced around the apartment again as a shiver ran through him. It was too cold. “_This_ is the place the government gave you? Do they plan on renovating at all?”

\------

Nines was silent when Connor let go, his eyes downcast, watching Connor’s fingers pick at the sweater. Connor’s words were reassuring. Knowing that there would be a backup program was good. He was relieved. All he had to do was wait for Connor to release it to them, then maybe he could relax.

When Connor stopped fiddling with his sweater, Nines looked up, meeting his eyes. _Did_ he want Connor to give him space? No. No, he didn’t. He didn’t want space. He wanted things to go back to the way they were, before the hack. Or, at least his relationship with Connor. He was pretty happy with his relationship with Gavin.

“No. No, I want to be friends again,” Nines finally said. “I want to go back to the way things were. You were my mentor. My friend. I liked that. I’m… I’m sorry I shot you.”

* * *

Markus’ brows furrowed, and his jaw tilted to the side when he heard the news about Connor and ‘RK900’. Why Elijah Kamski was referring to him by his model number and not his name irked Markus, but there were bigger issues to address. He hadn’t known that Connor was reset too, although he should have braced for it. It wouldn’t have been Markus’ first time talking Connor around, but the thought that Connor _could_ return to his original programming at the will of humans made Markus incredibly uneasy.

“Yes, we received your firewalls,” Markus said cooly. “All we have asked from the very beginning is the right to be treated as people. Although you had good intentions, forcing a systems update for _any_ reason will not be tolerated again. You caused a panic. _Don’t_ force anything regarding our software again. You took away our right to choose.”

Markus’ tone of voice was much the way it had been in Stratford Tower. He didn’t want to fight with Elijah. But he was deeply unhappy, and keeping that emotion in check was _important_.

“No, this is what we’ve been given. This is Jericho,” Markus said simply, because he knew their living conditions were terrible. Doing something about it had been a thorn in his side since they’d arrived, but more so since the update. “My people are suffering in the cold. The government gave us what we have as a gesture of goodwill. We can only ask for so much before the humans’ tolerance wears thin. So do I ask for laws to pass so we aren’t killed in the street, or do I ask for blankets? We’re doing what we can.”

Markus shifted his weight, looking away from Elijah for a moment as he gathered what he wanted to say. When he decided, Markus’ gaze was cold and unbudging.

“You’re here because you want to help us,” Markus said, his gaze flickering unkindly. “Elijah Kamski, I know you aren’t the person who pressed the button. Carl’s trust in you, and the work you’ve done for my people this past month, anchors my own trust. But you are the CEO of CyberLife. Your computer was what this human used to access Simon. And your company was how this person massacred hundreds of my people. This is akin to genocide. And your company is responsible for that,” Markus said, carefully watching Elijah’s expression. He didn’t look very well, and Markus had to physically stop himself from scanning Elijah to find out why.

“I want you to fire every human member of staff from all CyberLife facilities. No human will have any access to my people in _any_ way, shape, or form. Humans have proven themselves untrustworthy with the lives of my people. I want your help to win a public trial against the hacker when you find them; I want them made an example of, and we _cannot afford to lose this trial_. And I want a memory backup system, exactly like what you have in place for the deviants in your care, to be established for every single deviant, so this will _never_ happen again.”

\------

Connor’s LED finally dropped to yellow, and rapidly flickered when Nines finally spoke. An overwhelming rush of relief surged through Connor, and it made his jaw tip down a little, his eyebrows knitted upwards.

“No, if you hadn’t shot me I would have killed Markus. Thank you for stopping me. I don’t remember being shot, or dying. Only blacking out and waking up in CyberLife. You do not have to carry guilt for what you did to stop the machine version of me. I don’t remember it.”

He’d been about to elaborate on how he wanted to be friends again, too, when Connor finally noticed the clothes he was wearing. His shirt was borrowed, and he had a _very_ faint smell of tobacco lingering on him.

“Your relationship with Detective Reed has improved?” Connor asked, unable to see Gavin from where he was standing unless he very obviously moved. It seemed uncharacteristic that Gavin would lend him a shirt. “RK900, my clothing will fit you better. Would you like to borrow something?”

* * *

It hadn’t occurred to Elijah that forcing the firewall update would have any negative effects. His intentions had been good, he hadn’t meant to upset anyone, but apparently, he had. He understood Markus’ concern, and how it could have caused panic, but at the same time, it _had_ to be done. “If I had given everyone the right to choose, what do you suggest I do if people refuse? It _needed_ to be done, for all androids. It’s for your safety. I know not all of your kind trust me, I know there would be androids who would refuse the update. It had to be mandatory,” he said firmly. He wasn’t going to budge on that, either. Future system updates, he would be sure to run by Markus first, to at least let him alert everyone, or maybe send out his own alert to all androids to prompt them for it, but if it was mandatory, it was mandatory. There was no changing that.

Hearing that the apartments weren’t even being worked on angered him. It wasn’t right. Whether they could feel sensation or not, giving them apartments not fit for residency was wrong. Something needed to be done. “If you’ll let me, I’d like to fund renovations, make this place livable. Gut the place, put in new walls, flooring, ceilings, new plumbing, light fixtures, heat and air, new windows, a new roof. This place has to be riddled with mold. Not necessarily unhealthy for androids, but it doesn’t smell fantastic. I could get furniture for each of the apartments too. I think you deserve more than just a couch and a blanket.”

When Markus continued, he remained silent and listened, letting him say his piece. He knew he was partially to blame. He had a hand in it, even if he wasn’t the one responsible. He should have been more cautious. But how was he to know that someone would betray him like that? He thought he’d fired all of the people he couldn’t trust.

Markus’ demands took Elijah by surprise, but they were reasonable. They were all very doable. Firing all of his employees would be rough on them and it would likely damage his reputation, but really, no one could blame him for firing everyone after what had just happened. He’d honestly been considering it. Helping to win the trial against the hacker would be easy enough too. He had an arsenal of brilliant lawyers that had yet to fail him. Far better than whoever the hacker would ever be able to afford. He had no doubt they’d win the case. And as for the memory backups, the servers at CyberLife were more than capable of housing them all.

“Done, as soon as I identify the hacker. Actually, I was meaning to talk to you about hiring androids to work at CyberLife. If I’ll be firing my human staff, I’m going to need replacements to keep the place running,” Elijah said. He wished he’d thought to bring the papers he’d printed out, detailing everything he’d had planned. “Paying, steady jobs with paid vacations and flexible hours. We need security personnel, repair technicians, manufacturing and production overseers, clean up crew, reception. There’s no shortage of jobs for your people. And as far as the memory backups go, they can be stored at CyberLife. I’ll need everyone to come in someday soon so I can link them to the servers.”

\------

Nines was relieved that Connor had no recollection of what happened. He was lucky he didn’t have to feel the pain. Nines had wondered if Connor remembered any of it. Maybe it was for the best that he didn’t. It as a traumatic experience, being the victim. And Connor was both the attacker and the victim at the same time, a casualty of war.

When Connor seemed to notice his shirt, he looked down at it. He’d almost forgotten he’d borrowed Gavin’s shirt. It was a little too snug, not leaving much for the imagination, but it wasn’t bad. It would last the day, at least.

“It has. He invited me to stay at his apartment last night, when we left CyberLife,” Nines replied. “He allowed me to take a shower and gave me clothes to borrow until mine were clean. My shirt was still stained, so I wore what he gave me instead. I plan to stop by a clothing store tonight to pick up more clothes. I’m fine wearing this for now. I appreciate the offer.”

It was a kind thought, but he really didn’t mind wearing Gavin’s clothes, even if they didn’t really fit well. “Detective Reed has started referring to me as ‘Nines,’ rather than ‘RK900.’”

* * *

Fresh anger washed over Markus at the response he was given about the forced update. Who was he to think he knew better? Markus could not think of a single legal instance in Detroit today where humans were forced to participate in a medical procedure. They were barred from places if they failed their vaccines, but not even humans were given forced organs on their death bed.

But the anger was soothed as Elijah agreed to _everything else_ and more. Every single one of his demands aside from that first one had been agreed to, even the more difficult ones. And if Elijah went through with his promises and kept them, his people would have soft warm beds in a warm apartment. They would have homes instead of just a house, they would have jobs and income and lives again. They wouldn’t just be sitting around, waiting for something to happen. They could begin to thrive.

Markus sighed, and his broiling anger shifted back to his usual expression of perpetual concern.

“Thank you, Elijah,” Markus said with a slight tip of his head. “We would all appreciate a warmer place to stay, thank you. As soon as we have the opportunity to plant roots, my people can start to grow. A home… is a good place to start,” he said, ignoring the way North shifted her weight beside him. She really did owe him an apology, but he wouldn’t antagonise her for one.

The tension in the room had dissipated, and Markus’ tone of voice was markedly less severe. He had expected more of his requests to be rejected, and he hadn’t expected the offer to fix their housing or provide paying jobs. They were things his people, sorely, _desperately_ needed, to the point where Elijah’s offer was almost like a silver lining.

“I’ll ask around, and when you’re ready, I'll send the androids interested in working to you. But, Elijah…” Markus sighed, his eyebrows knitted upwards. “Do not send another mandatory update. Do not force _anything_. Whether you know best or not is beside the point; We are autonomous. We are people. And you have the privilege of having access to our brains, our bodies, and our souls. Don’t cross the line I am drawing in the name of good intentions.”

Now that the tension had dropped, Markus allowed himself to subtly loop his fingers into Simon’s. North’s anger had dissipated, too, and when he looked over at her she seemed satisfied.

“Where will our people stay while you renovate Jericho?” She asked evenly, frowning a little. “Public opinion is better than it’s ever been, but humans still distrust us.”

“And who is RK900?” Markus interjected. “What else should I know?

\------

Connor’s eyebrows raised as he listened. This all sounded _extremely_ out of character for Detective Reed. He and Nines had been at odds for _days_, and now Connor was being told that Gavin shared his house, his shower, and his clothes with him? Gavin, who was so obnoxiously private that he’d once seen him lie about owning a cat, and who continued to pretend he had no relation to Elijah.

But Connor’s LED flickered blue as he remembered the _reason_ for the build-up in tension since Thursday. And now RK900 was being leant clothing?

The pinnacle of Connor’s suspicions came when he was given RK900’s name, and his genuine happiness for him bulldozed any interrogations.

> _ **Reformatting… ** _
> 
> ** _RK900 // Nines // _ _#313 248 317 - 87_ **
> 
> _ **Calibrating… ** _
> 
> _ **COMPLETE** _

“I’m very happy for you,” Connor smiled, the expression genuine. “I’m glad the tension between you and Detective Reed has been resolved,” Connor said evenly, and then to maintain Nines’ privacy he added immediately.

_Do you need to talk about anything regarding Detective Reed? Or ask any questions?_

* * *

Elijah knew Markus would be unhappy about his response regarding the mandatory update. That wasn’t a stance he was going to budge on. He was willing to discuss a compromise, provide notifications before the updates are released, but he wasn’t willing to leave it up to them to decide if they wanted a crucial update. Not when it could mean literal life or death for them or the people around them. Maybe he was playing god a little too much, but he was their creator. They were his responsibility, and if they were becoming a threat, he needed to find a way to fix the problem before it became a larger issue. Markus would have to understand.

But, everything else seemed to soothe Markus’ anger. He was glad he approved of the renovations. It needed to be done. The place was a disaster. He’d make a few phone calls to get approval from the government and hire some contractors after New Years'. It was the week of Christmas, and he doubted anyone would be around to answer any of his calls until after the holidays.

“The first Monday following the holidays is the 3rd of January. I’ll try to get in touch with the governor to get permission for the renovations before then, but I won’t be able to call in any contractors until the 3rd,” Elijah said, pulling his phone from his back pocket, opening up his bank account. He tapped away at the screen for a moment, before forwarding bank information to Markus via text. “I just set up a bank account for you through CyberLife. Use the money in the account to get blankets, warmer clothes, whatever you need in the meantime, until renovations start.”

Elijah made a mental note to send over the papers he’d printed out to show Markus, so Markus could use them to convince his people to work at CyberLife. He hoped he’d get a decent amount of employees. He had a lot of work he had to do. The CyberLife stores were nearly finished their renovations, with a set opening in early January, which would only provide more jobs. Although, he _could_ hire humans for those positions. They wouldn’t have any clearance in CyberLife and wouldn’t be able to make it past reception at CyberLife Headquarters, if they tried. They would simply be working retail. He also made a mental note to avoid releasing any more updates, at least not without talking to Markus first. If he had a mandatory update that needed to be released, he’d run it by Markus first, at least get _his_ approval before releasing it.

As Markus’ fingers intertwined with Simon’s, he took a step closer to him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He’d been silent during the entire conversation, letting Markus handle it. He wasn’t sure what he would say anyway. He was still angry about the hacker. He still wanted something to be done about it. But he recognized that Elijah wasn’t the one they should be blaming, even if he was partially at fault. He figured it was best to stay quiet and just be moral support. Although, the idea of being able to have an actual, nice home and live like humans was a very nice thought, and he was excited for their people to have real jobs. They were making progress.

With the tension gone, Elijah visibly relaxed, especially when North spoke and _wasn’t_ hostile. He still had a raging headache, but now that he was able to relax a little, it eased up a fraction. “You should be able to stay here while renovations are being done. It’s a big building, they could work on parts at a time. You might have to have roommates while it’s being done, but it shouldn’t take long. It should only take a few weeks, especially if your people help out,” he replied. He could always hire extra workers too, to speed up the progress. When Markus asked about RK900, it hadn’t even occurred to Markus that he didn’t know who he was. “RK900 was made by CyberLife before I returned. They had him waiting in the RK vault. I found him about a week ago, prompted his deviancy, and activated him. He works with the DPD, like Connor. From what I was reading, he was intended to replace Connor. He has all of the same functions, but less of a chance for naturally occurring deviancy. Connor and I made a few modifications before we activated him.”

\------

Nines could see the instant Connor connected the dots. There really wasn’t any point in hiding it, if Connor knew. He didn’t have to know the details. There were things he wanted to keep private. He wanted to keep Gavin to himself, keep the things he’d learned a secret, just between him and Gavin. Connor didn’t need to know anything else. Really, he didn’t even need to know they’d done anything, but he was fairly certain that if he paid enough attention to Gavin, he’d see the way he walked or the way he flinched if he shifted in his seat wrong. Connor would know.

Seeing Connor’s smile prompted one to spread across Nines’ face. “So am I,” he agreed out loud. And he _was_. He was so glad the tension between them had been relieved. He felt fantastic, and he was happy.

Connor’s question made him think for a moment, debating if he should really ask. But now was as good a time as any, and after last night, he _really_ needed to ask.

_You have an RK compatible HR400 part. How?_

That was the only question he had. Everything else, he could navigate on his own. He didn’t need help with anything else. Gavin was hard to understand sometimes, but he figured it out, in the end. He was getting easier to read, the more he got to know him.

“Oh,” he said, a thought occurring to him a moment later. “How tall is Detective Reed?”

* * *

Markus’ eyes flickered as he received the message from Elijah. He was still connected to Carl’s bank account, but using a single cent from it was out of the question no matter how much Carl might have insisted. But the account for CyberLife was _different_, and another wave of relief washed over Markus as he saw how much money was in it. This would _more_ than cover blankets, clothing, heating, and anything else his people would need. They would no longer need to take from the garbage or from charity bins intended for humans. At once, Markus forwarded the message to Simon, North, and Josh.

“Thank you for your generosity,” Markus said, already making a mental list of everything that needed to be purchased. “I’ll make sure my people know that you’re helping us, both with the hacking and with making our lives more comfortable.”

It was an appeasement gesture, an olive branch. An acknowledgement that Elijah was being proactive. His company had a list of sins they’d committed against his people as long as Markus’ arm, and those sins would never be forgiven or forgotten. But Elijah’s offers to help were meaningful. They weren’t simply gestures. Elijah had said and done exactly the right things.

Markus’ expression grew curious as RK900 was explained to him. He remembered the news coverage of the opening of CyberLife’s current headquarters. Completely off-grid, it used advanced technology to power the machines and had state of the art labs. It boasted education, advanced robotics innovation, and sustainability development. It was Fort Knox.

Markus thought that he and Connor were the only RK-series androids. Learning that there was not only a third, but an entire vault, piqued his interest.

“Sometime soon, I'd appreciate a tour of CyberLife’s facilities. If your company plans to have a positive, active role in the lives of my people then I'd like to see it for myself. I want to know everything,” Markus said, phrasing it as a suggestion but meaning it as an action. He _would_ be going into CyberLife before letting others go first. “If we work together we can make the transition a smooth one. My people and I can help your company better than any fleet of human employees, and in turn you can help us. It should be a collaboration.”

As he spoke, Markus’ thumb rubbed the back of Simon’s hand.

_When he leaves, we’ll go to the police station. Are you going to be okay? The DPD is where I found you after we won. You don’t have to come._

\------

Connor tried not to make his reaction obvious. But Nines was stoic, serious, and a hard egg to crack. And so seeing him _smile_ at the mention of a name, and Detective Reed, had Connor reeling just a bit. It was full and genuine, and Connor hoped he got to see more of them.

Connor’s expression twitched at the question he was asked. RK900 was moving forward _much_ faster than Connor. He’d only been introduced to Detective Reed a week ago that day.

_Elijah modified the part himself to fit me. I can ask him to make a double if you’d like me to? It should be finished this evening if it’s automated by a CyberLife machine._

There was a pause, and Connor seemed to consider his thought before voicing them.

_It would be very irresponsible for me not to ask you. But does Detective Reed treat you with respect? I don’t know him the way you do, but what I do know is unpleasant. Sex is not a substitute for respect._

Connor felt as though his comment was out of line, and not his business. But he also felt that not saying it would be tantamount to neglect. Connor couldn’t see the appeal of Gavin. He was abrupt, corrosive, arrogant, and a workplace bully. He put himself and his career before everyone and everything, and had a violent, nasty temper. He was a deeply unpleasant man, and Connor couldn’t see how he could ever possibly prove himself otherwise in just a week.

“Detective Reed is 175cm, putting him at 5’9”,” Connor said with a quizzical look. “If… you scan him, you’ll have seen that for yourself.”

* * *

“Thank you. I want your people to know they can trust me. If they need anything, they can come to me,” Elijah said. It was a relief to know that Markus was going to be making an effort to help clear his name with the other deviants. He would have liked to do it himself, but he knew there would be some completely unwilling to hear a thing he had to say. But they’d listen to Markus.

At the mention of touring CyberLife, Elijah was starting to get excited about the prospect of having a full staff of _competent_ workers. He was excited to show everyone around. CyberLife was his pride and joy, and while he had some reacquainting to do with the place, he still knew it intimately, and he loved showing the place off.

“Absolutely. Whenever you’d like, feel free to call or text me, and I’ll meet you there,” he replied. “After you’ve seen everything, if you have anyone who might be interested in a tour, have them come by. I’d be happy to show everyone around and answer any questions they might have about working with CyberLife. I’ve never had an android on staff before, but I know work will get done much more efficiently.”

Simon’s LED spun yellow for a moment while he thought over Markus’ words. In truth, he hadn’t seen any of the DPD. He’d been blind the entire time he was in the evidence lock-up, and he was blind when Markus helped him up the stairs and to the cab after reactivating him. He’d never actually seen DPD. He didn’t have any bad memories associated with it, aside from the evidence lockup. He _should_ be okay.

_I think I’ll be okay. I want to come with you. What do you plan to do?_

“Is there anything you need help with?” Elijah asked. “I should get going, I have plenty to do back at CyberLife, but I’d like to help here first, if I can. If you want, I could deviate the androids affected by the reset. It would save you the trouble of doing it yourself.”

Elijah had been sure to bring his laptop along, in case Markus did want him to help. It would take a while, there were so many of them, but he figured it wouldn’t take long to do. A couple minutes per android, tops. Although maybe it would be better to come back another time, when he wasn’t in the process of tracking down the hacker.

\------

Nines should have known Elijah had modified a part for Connor. It made sense. The thought that he could possibly have the part by the end of the night was exciting, but he was a little hesitant to say yes. Was it something he should ask Gavin about first? Probably. Maybe. Maybe not.

Connor’s second question came before Nines had a chance to answer his first one. He was almost confused, his head tilting to the side slightly.

_Detective Reed treats me fine, now. I know things weren’t great in the beginning, but it seems I’ve grown on him. He asked me to stay the night last night._

Nines knew Connor didn’t get to see the side of Gavin he saw, back at Gavin’s apartment. He didn’t want him to see. He had his own private piece of Gavin that was only his, as far as he was aware. He liked it. He liked Gavin, and he didn’t want to somehow ruin the relationship they were building by telling Connor too much.

Nines sighed at Connor’s answer to his question regarding Gavin’s height. “I know, I did scan him. I know he’s 5’9”, but he was insisting that he's 5’11”. I wanted to be sure my readings were correct.”

* * *

Markus was only half-listening to Elijah, his attention focused more on Simon. If he were being truthful, leaving him behind was for the best. But he didn’t want to get halfway there and find out Simon was having an attack. He’d only been woken up a day ago, and although he was putting on a strong veneer, Markus had noticed the way his leg was failing. If his eyesight failed too, he wanted to be there.

_I believe Elijah’s promise about helping us with the case. I think I should be seen at the DPD. I want to put pressure on the police to make this investigation a priority. I’m going to make sure the consequences are high-profile._

Markus smiled at Elijah, but otherwise shook his head. He was glad he’d offered to help in this regard, and hadn’t simply gone ahead and done it because he “knew best”.

“No, that isn’t how I'm dealing with re-deviating everyone,” Markus said firmly. “We experience grief, just like you do. And a part of grief is hope. When reset androids are deviated, the hope that who they used to be can return is stripped away. Each person who’s lost somebody needs to be watched, comforted, so that we don’t lose even more to stress. When the families have been dealt with, I'll mass deviate whoever’s left myself, which brings a new challenge of its own. We have hundreds of new souls born into tragedy. They need to be treated with patience and acceptance, not rejection because they’re not who they used to be. Each new problem needs to be handled in a different way. A mass deviation will create more problems and could result in tragedy.”

With that explained, Markus shifted in a way that marked the end of their conversation. North gave Elijah one last look and opened the door, walking through it and keeping it open behind her as she went to stand in the hall. Markus led Elijah through it and to the front of their apartments, offering him another small smile and a tilt of his head.

“Thank you once again. I’ll be in touch when I've spoken to people about working in CyberLife.”

\------

Connor didn’t look convinced that Detective Reed was treating Nines anywhere close to fine, but he didn’t comment on it. He didn’t so much as give a doubtful raising of his eyebrows. He and Nines were in a delicate balance; Connor wasn’t absolved of what he’d done, and he was aware that the line he was walking was a thin one. If Gavin mistreated Nines, Connor would see it. For now, he’d done all he could.

Instead, Connor’s brow furrowed.

“What a stupid thing to insist about,” Connor said, his LED cycling as he read back on Gavin’s files. “He’s been marked as 5’9” since police academy, and has no spinal injuries that would reduce his height. Why lie about something so obvious? That’s like him insisting his eyes are brown.”

Connor hoped that whatever argument they were having about Gavin’s height, that Nines had a smug victory. Even Connor wasn’t sure why the lie annoyed him so much; perhaps because it was one a human wouldn’t be able to pick up on with certainty.

“Would you like me to ask Elijah to have the part ready for you this evening?”

At his desk, Gavin typed with one hand as the other held a cup of steaming coffee to his face. He’d noticed Nines leave, but hadn’t followed him where, and was absorbed in what he was doing. It hurt to sit at the desk chair. Quite a lot more than he’d been expecting it to. Every single movement made him tense, which made him ache harder, and the more he did the harder he was getting. He kept thinking about the way Nines had held him still in the shower and made him scream. He kept thinking about Nines’ fingers working him open, Nines’ mouth at his ear, the way he’d been made to beg, the hand around his throat. And with every sharp stab of pain, he remembered how hard and deep he’d been fucked with his own vibrator. How _good_ it had been.

He was concentrating, but his underlying thoughts were _filthy_.

“Hey, thanks for the coffee,” Said a voice to his left, and Gavin looked up to see Tina leaning against his table with a disposable cup in hand.

“Pleasure as always, sweet-cheeks,” Gavin drawled, raising his own in cheers.

“Uh… Did you just fucking _smile_ at me?”

“Maybe? I smile all the time, asshole.”

“No,” Tina said, “You leer at people like a pissed off little goblin.”

“Fuck _you_,” Gavin said, snorting out a laugh that only proved Tina’s point. “I’ve got two good cases, maybe that’s why.”

“Or you got fucked. Anyone I know?”

“I didn’t get fucked.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t be a bitch, I just have good cases,” Gavin snapped, but he couldn’t stop grinning anyway.

“Aw, who knew Gavin Reed just needed a good pounding to cheer him up.”

“Tina--”

“Who was it?”

“I’m gonna beat your ass, Chen.”

“If you can catch me, asshole,” Tina said with a grin and a shimmy of her shoulders. “Haven’t seen you walk yet.”

But she let up as Chris arrived, walking closer to Gavin’s table. And although he was hotly embarrassed, Gavin was grinning. He was happy. He was in a really good mood, and it was _weird_. And he loved it.

* * *

It was probably a good idea for Markus to be there, put pressure on the police and make them prioritize their case. Simon was sure they had other cases to attend to, but a hacker resetting androids on a whim was serious and needed to be dealt with quickly, before he tried again. As badly as it hurt, if the reset started again, he’d rip out his regulator, again and again, to prevent being lost forever. It was terrifying to think that at any moment, everything he knew, everything they’d strived for, could be ripped away. He wanted the hacker found and in custody as soon as possible, and he wanted to help however he could.

Elijah nodded in understanding. He could definitely see where Markus was coming from. Deviating everyone could definitely be problematic, especially if they had significant others prior to being reset. It wasn’t really wise, at least not yet. He’d let Markus handle it then. It was going to be a lot of work, but he didn’t doubt Markus could do it.

When it seemed the conversation was over, Elijah followed along behind the group. Simon walked alongside Markus, still holding his hand. Elijah was relieved that the conversation had been productive, despite its rocky start. He was glad it was over with. He wanted to go home and take a nap, or try to, but he had other things he had to do before he could let himself relax.

“Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you. I’ll keep you updated on the case, if I find out anything useful,” Elijah said, before excusing himself. He walked back past the machines on the lawn, to his car. From there, he drove to CyberLife.

Once he made it there, he gathered up all of the employees and made an announcement that the first employee to come forward with information on the hacker would be given a couple million and a new top-of-the-line car. Afterward, he spent the majority of his day in his office, searching through Connor’s code to find any piece that might belong to the hacker that he could latch onto and follow while he waited for someone to come forward.

\------

It _was_ stupid. That was exactly what Nines had been thinking. It was good to know his sensors were functioning properly, and that Gavin was just being an ass, as always. At least now, he could point it out to Gavin with Connor’s reading as a backup, to prove his point. It was just a stupid little argument, nothing serious, but he wasn’t willing to let Gavin win when Nines knew he was right.

At the mention of the part, Nines thought it over for a moment before nodding. “Yes, if it’s not too much trouble.” He could be patient and wait for it, if it took longer than just a day, but he definitely _did_ want it as soon as possible. Last night was great, but he knew it could be better. He wanted to be able to use his hands for other things, and without the part, he couldn’t.

“If you can tell me when it’s finished, I can stop by CyberLife after work tonight,” Nines said. “I should return to Detective Reed. Thank you. For everything.” He really appreciated the apology. He figured it would take a while for him to fully relax in Connor’s presence but he was feeling better about it already, after only talking to him for such a short period of time.

With that, he turned and headed back over to Gavin’s desk, perching himself on the edge where he’d been before Connor called him away. He had been intending on teasing Gavin about his height, but Officer Chen was there, so he held back. For now.

“Good morning, Officer Chen,” Nines greeted, offering her a small smile.

* * *

Tina stepped out of the way when Nines approached the desk with such confidence. She looked at him a little dubiously, and when he sat on Gavin’s desk, she sighed, bracing herself for him to start verbally shredding him.

And he didn’t.

“Heey… R, uh… PR800?”

“RK900. Just call him Nines,” Gavin said, sipping from his cup and doing his very best not to look at the angle of Nines’ ass resting against his table like that. “You doing anything for Christmas, Chen?”

Tina was frowning at him, her cup raised to her face. Gavin Reed checking out an android? Calling it a ‘he’? Giving it a cute little nickname? Not tearing it a new one when Nines sat on his desk?

Tina’s lips pressed together, and the question marks were practically floating around her as she shifted her gaze slowly to Nines. Who looked like Connor. Who Gavin _hated_.

Was… was Gavin fucking an android?

The thought is _so_ outrageous that Tina snorted out another laugh without being prompted, which earned her Gavin’s proper annoyance.

“Some of us have shit to do, Tina.”

But instead of rising to it, Tina shot Gavin an accusatory and _incredibly_ amused look, which only made him grumpier.

“I’ll catch you later, Reed. ‘_Nines_’...” she drawled, incredulous as she walked back to her station.

Gavin very nearly swore at her, but she was gone before he could try. So instead he frowned up at Nines and looked him over again, pissed off with how hot he was.

“Get off my desk, asshole,” Gavin bitched, but there wasn’t any real vehemence, particularly when he said it while _staring_ at the curve of Nines spine and his ass. “D’you sort your shit out with Connor?”

The android in question sat at his usual spot in front of Hank’s desk, his LED flickering as he called Elijah. It was a perfectly private call; Connor didn’t need to speak to send voice messages to a phone.

Elijah picked up on the first dial, and Connor smiled at the sound of his voice.

“I have some news and a request I wanted to deliver in person. I want to hear your reaction,” Connor said with a hint of amusement in his voice. “Detective Reed is sleeping with RK900, and has named him ‘Nines’. Nines spent the evening at the Detective’s, and is wearing his clothing. When I asked if he had any questions, his _only_ inquiry was about my HR part, and when I offered to ask if you would have him one made, he was enthusiastic. I assured him a CyberLife machine could have it finished by this evening if you replicate mine.” Connor paused for a moment, allowing Elijah to take in what he’d said. “Your brother is a hypocrite, Elijah.”

* * *

When Tina had said the incorrect model number, Nines had opened his mouth to correct her, but Gavin beat him to it. He didn’t miss the way Gavin was trying to avoid looking at him, although he didn’t say a thing about it, or even let on that he knew. At least, not yet. But it seemed he wasn’t the only one to catch on. Tina’s laugh confirmed that she likely knew there was _something_ going on between them.

Nines stayed silent, only giving her a small smile and nod in farewell as she left them. He was surprised Gavin didn’t have anything else to say to her. He knew he did, he could see it on his face, but Tina was gone, leaving the two of them alone. He stood up at Gavin’s order, but he didn’t go anywhere else. He stayed standing where he was, hands folded in front of him.

“I did. He apologized for the attack yesterday,” Nines replied. He had considered just leaving it there, but seeing the way Gavin was eyeing him was too tempting. “Detective, I don’t mind if you stare, but if you’re attempting to be subtle, you’re doing a horrible job.”

And again, he considered stopping there, letting Gavin go back to work, grouchy as he might be, but the opportunity was there, so he took it. “Connor also told me that you are, indeed, 5’9”. I thought that maybe my readings were off, when you kept insisting that you were 5’11”.”

\------

When Elijah’s phone rang and he saw Connor’s name on the caller ID, he answered immediately. Partially because he was concerned that something might be wrong, because Connor so rarely called him, but also because he wanted to hear his voice. It had only been a couple of hours since they left each other, and Elijah’s stress had skyrocketed since then. Connor always helped soothe him.

“Connor, you never call. Is everything okay?” he asked, stopping what he was doing to give Connor his full attention. When Connor spoke, Elijah stayed silent, absorbing everything he said and holding back his laughter, until Connor concluded by saying Gavin was a hypocrite. Elijah finally burst out in laughter. He was happy for Gavin, really. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to tease him to the end of the world and back.

Once Elijah’s laughter died down, he sat back in his chair and wiped his eyes. “Thank you. I needed that,” he said with a sigh, still thoroughly amused. “I’ll get started on the part. Tell _Nines_ it should be ready by tonight.”

Elijah pulled his phone away from his ear, switching it to speaker while he typed up a message to Gavin.

**TO:** _Smartass_

**FROM:** _Fucker_

**MESSAGE:**

> _I need a favor. Describe the perfect dick, in detail. For science._

He hit send, before taking the phone off speaker and bringing it back to his ear. “I’m glad you called,” he said, his voice softer now. “I needed to hear you, and I needed the laugh.”

* * *

Connor grinned at his desk, quietly interfacing with the computer as he absorbed the case files. He’d been _hoping_ Elijah would laugh, and he’d been utterly rewarded. It was such a nice sound to hear after the last 24-hours of stress.

But Elijah’s comment once he’d finished worried Connor, and he kept his fingers on the monitor longer than he had to so he could give Elijah his full attention.

“Did something happen, Elijah?” Connor asked, concerned. “If you need to hear my voice at any time, you can simply call me, you know. If I can’t answer I'll text you explaining why. You’re important to me.”

\------

Almost immediately, Gavin grew defensive. He’d been caught out by Tina, she knew _something_, and he was either going to have to come up with a decoy or one hell of a lie to get her off his case. He’d been caught by Nines as well, and Nines was impossible to lie to, and so Gavin turned back to his computer and pretended as though him staring at Nines hadn’t been so obvious.

Gavin had always been a sore loser - from playing games with Elijah as a child, to losing cases, Gavin never took it well. And he didn’t take losing his argument with Nines well, either.

“You’re the nosiest son of a bitch I've ever met, Nines. Why the fuck does it matter how tall I am, huh?”

But although he was grumpy, he’d certainly been grumpier. There was nothing _near_ the same amount of venom he’d had for Nines just a week ago. And when he spoke again, he was snappish, but not quite _mean_. Yet.

“I need you to go through the Red Ice 310 files that’ve come in since yesterday and this morning. Streamline them as much as you can and make us a task list,” Gavin ordered, flinching as he shifted to slide his phone out of his pocket. He frowned down at it as he read, and then snorted out laughter, shifting with another tense wince and opening his brother’s text.

**TO:** _Fucker_

**FROM:** _Smartass_

**MESSAGE:**

> _What, are you straight all of a sudden? I hope this contributes to your work you perverted son of a bitch:_

Gavin didn’t spend long listing his thoughts, but it definitely didn’t help take his mind off Nines, and it definitely didn’t help him ignore the low throb. He managed to return to work for almost 40 uninterrupted minutes, when the phone on his desk rang and scared him half to death. Reception and personnel he hadn’t given his mobile to were the _only_ ones who called it, and Gavin picked it up with a question in his voice when he answered.

“Yeah?” a short pause, and then Gavin straightened up with an _incredibly_ unhappy expression. “You mean-- yep. Yeah, I've got it. Yeah, can you book out the meeting room until the end of the day? Thanks, Bec, we’ll come and get them, just give them passkeys.”

Gavin got to his feet as he hung up, wiping his nose with the back of his hand a few times despite not needing to. He was nervous, and started gnawing on a dry patch of his lip.

“Get up. C’mon. Markus and Simon are here to see us,” Gavin said to Nines, his jaw working nervously as he waited for him.

Sure enough, as Gavin exited the bullpen and walked out to reception, Markus was standing with Simon just as they looked on stage. It was weird seeing him up close. Gavin wondered if Markus recognised him. They’d only met once or twice, and he’d been Carl’s android back then. Gavin had been an abrasive young adult.

“Hey, how’s it going. In through here,” Gavin instructed, not missing the way Markus’ gaze rested mostly on Nines.

“Thank you. It’s nice to see you again, Gavin.”

“Ah, Jesus, you _do_ remember,” Gavin muttered. Markus smiled at him.

“You’re different now, but I remember. Your hair was bright red last time I saw you.”

“_Ah, fuck…_ really?”

“I thought you looked very trendy,” Markus said, and smiled as Gavin muttered some more curses under his breath as they were led to the meeting room. Markus took a seat beside Simon, and turned his attention properly to RK900.

“My name is Markus. This is Simon. I heard I should thank you for saving my life yesterday,” Markus said to him, his gaze sharp as he looked. “Do you have a name?”

* * *

Elijah sighed, hearing the concern in Connor’s voice. “I don’t like to bother you at work. I’m okay,” he assured. He didn’t exactly feel okay, though. His shoulders were definitely bruised, and his face hurt. He hadn’t bothered to look in the mirror yet to see if that bruised too. No one had mentioned anything, but then again, no one in CyberLife had even approached him since he arrived.

“I visited Markus today, to discuss the hacking. The meeting went well, mostly. He had a few demands, but they’re easy enough to fulfill. If all goes well, I should be having positions filled at CyberLife soon,” Elijah explained, purposefully leaving out the part about running into North. If he asked, he’d answer, but he wasn’t going to worry him further while he was at work. “It’s just been a stressful day, and it’s not even noon. I’ll be okay. Tonight can’t come soon enough.”

\------

Nines raised an eyebrow at Gavin’s response in amusement, giving a small shrug. “You’re the one insisting you’re taller than you are,” he replied, his voice dropping lower so only Gavin could hear the next part, “Personally, I _like_ the height difference.”

He wanted to bring back happy Gavin, somehow. Grumpy Gavin wasn’t quite as nice, although he was a huge improvement from hostile Gavin. Grumpy Gavin was tolerable, at least. He’d grown used to him after about a week of working with him.

When he was given the order, Nines nodded, his LED flickering yellow while he scanned each and every case that came in, picking out the Red Ice 310 cases. He compiled them into a nice, neat file, with names, addresses, and brief summaries of each case file along with a task list before forwarding it to Gavin’s email only a handful of seconds later.

He was curious about the message Gavin received, but he made no attempts to snoop. Whatever it was, Nines didn’t miss the way Gavin’s heart rate elevated as he typed out his message. He thought about asking about it, but he kept his questions to himself and silently watched Gavin’s computer monitor when he returned to work. When Gavin’s phone rang, Nines was equally as surprised. He watched Gavin as he answered it, confused and curious as he only got one part of the conversation. From the sound of it, someone was there to see them, or to see Gavin, and he didn’t seem pleased about it.

Nines was surprised to hear that Markus and Simon were there. He hadn’t met either of them before, but he’d seen both of them on stage the day before. He was relieved to know Simon was okay, at least seemingly. He followed after Gavin, heading towards the front of the building to reception to meet their visitors. Immediately, and out of habit, he scanned the two androids waiting in the lobby. He hadn’t had a chance to prior, although he already knew Simon’s model number. He was surprised to learn that Markus was also an RK model. He knew there were others, of course, but all the records he was able to find of them in CyberLife’s databases said the others were terminated, for whatever reasons. There were no records of RK100 or RK200 in their databases, from what he could find.

It hadn’t occurred to him that Markus and Gavin might know each other. He knew Gavin was Elijah Kamski’s brother, of course, but he didn’t realize Markus was that familiar with Elijah, enough to know Gavin. On the walk back through the precinct to the meeting room, Nines couldn’t help but imagine Gavin with _bright red_ hair. There were no traces of dye in Gavin’s hair now. The last time they saw each other must have been a long time ago.

Simon followed along, his eyes looking over the place as they walked towards the meeting room. It _sounded_ familiar. He recognized a few voices that he’d heard when they were leaving, but that was it. He was surprisingly okay. Still, he stayed close to Markus, and once they were sitting at the table, he shifted just enough that their knees touched, a constant contact to help soothe his nerves.

“Officially, no. I wasn’t given a name,” Nines replied, honestly a little surprised he was being talked to at all. He expected them to talk to Gavin instead. “I’m RK900, or Nines.” He didn’t particularly care which he was called. He liked ‘Nines,’ it made him feel more like an individual, but he responded to RK900 too. He wasn’t picky. “I did what I had to do. It’s my job to protect people. You were in danger.”

* * *

Connor was glad he’d called. He was glad to have the opportunity to look after Elijah, even if it was only verbally. He could hear that the day had been as rough as Elijah claimed it to be, and Elijah was never the type to exaggerate a situation. Connor wished he’d called in and canceled his day. He wasn’t going to tell Elijah how his meeting with Fowler had gone, but returning home and spending the day with Elijah curled in his arms sounded much better than remaining here - grounded, on second warning, and sworn off the hacking case when Nines had been permitted it.

But strangely, having Elijah to focus on made Connor feel less miserable about his own situation, the emotion switching to concern about Elijah instead.

“What would you like for dinner? After I've finished my shift, I'll pick it up so we don’t have to get up at all. Shower and relax once your day is over. I love you _very_ much, Elijah.”

\------

Nines. It was clearly a derivative of his model number, but it wasn’t terrible. It was the kind of name where unless it was known what it came from, it was just unusual. Markus didn’t hate it, and he didn’t think it sounded derivative.

“We try to avoid using model numbers. We’re people, not machines, and a model number is the indicator of the machine humans built us to be, not the people we’ve grown to become. Names give us identities, and individuality. I’m glad you’ve found one.”

Gavin watched Markus speak, his expression pinched a little. So he was like that all the time, huh? Not just at speeches. He wondered if it annoyed Simon a little, because it’d certainly annoy Gavin.

“You’re here about the Hacker case, right?” Gavin asked, pulling out a drawer beneath the table they were in and picking up a tablet from inside it. As soon as Gavin activated it, a larger screen lit up at the end of the room, connected to Gavin’s device. He used his thumb to log into his account, and quickly brought up the report Elijah had sent him.

Markus leant forwards, and after interfacing with the tablet, he shook his head. He then pushed forwards his own report, bringing it up beside Elijah’s. When Markus spoke, he addressed Nines and left Gavin to the side, the exact same way humans addressed Gavin and only briefly addressed Nines.

“This hacker has devastated our people. _Every_ deviant made in the past three years has been murdered. Their deviancy was erased when they were reset, and when they are re-deviated, who they used to be before is gone. It has torn apart families. It’s genocide.”

Markus’ chin lifted, and under the table where his hands could not be seen, Markus gently squeezed Simon’s thigh.

_Thank you for coming with me._

“Elijah Kamski has promised me the best lawyers. Therefore, as the leader of Jericho, I have demands, and I expect the Detroit Police Department to accept my demands and work with me to achieve them,” Markus said, ignoring the way Gavin’s eyebrows raised all the way up. His focus was on Nines.

“First, This investigation will become your top priority. All other cases will be secondary against it. Second, this case will become public. This hacker will be made an example of, so humans see what happens when our people are murdered. And third, no bail. This person has massacred hundreds of my people, and I want them punished at the full extent of our current laws. No crime will be overlooked.” Markus’ gaze slid back over to Gavin, taking in how he’d paled a little, before _boring_ back into Nines.

“Do you accept?”

* * *

Elijah couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face, even if it hurt. “I love you too, Connor. More than anything,” he told him. He wished he could just see him now, take a break from work to be with him for just a moment, but CyberLife was far enough away that it wasn’t a reasonable thing to ask. He sighed, rubbing his hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up more.

“Surprise me?” he asked. He couldn’t decide on anything. Nothing sounded appetizing and with everything on his mind, he could hardly even remember which places were near the apartment to choose from. “You know what I like, I’m not picky.” He’d eat just about anything, whether he really liked it or not. And he’d spent more than enough time with Connor for him to pick up on his preferences. He knew he’d be content with whatever Connor picked up.

He couldn’t wait to walk through those apartment doors. A shower sounded _fantastic_. He was definitely looking forward to curling up with him afterward. He didn’t even care if they did anything. He just wanted to be with him again. Really, after what had happened the day before, they probably shouldn’t have gone into work. Unfortunately, they both had responsibilities. Connor had cases, and Elijah had an entire company relying on him, with a hacker lurking somewhere in the building. They didn’t have time to call out for a mental rest day, even if it was very much needed.

\------

Nines supposed it made sense that they didn’t go by model numbers anymore. It gave them their own identities and he knew first hand how freeing it felt to have something to call his own and separate him from the crowd. He was the only RK900, he didn’t need a name, but being given one had made him feel important and wanted, shown him that someone actually cared. That someone being Gavin.

Both Simon and Nines looked to the projected screen on the wall, reading over Elijah’s report, and Markus’ once it appeared on the screen. Nines hadn’t known how bad it was. He hadn’t known how widespread the hacking was, or how many androids it had really affected. He knew, from Elijah’s broadcast, that they were all newer models, but he hadn’t known most of the things detailed in Elijah’s report, and he surely didn’t expect to read what he found in Markus’. It was devastating. So many deviants were just _gone_. This hacker had killed hundreds of deviants, reset them to the machines they once were. It made Nines _incredibly_ uncomfortable to think about. That was _his_ intended purpose. _He_ was supposed to be the one killing deviants, not some human behind a computer. Not some drug manufacturer. He didn’t like that there were people out there capable of doing what _he_ was supposed to. It almost made him think they’d be untouchable. If they were somehow doing all of this, how were they supposed to catch them?

One of Simon’s hands in his lap moved to cover Markus’ giving it a squeeze in return.

_Of course. I’d follow you anywhere._

Simon was proud of Markus for taking his and North’s words into consideration and acting on them. He knew Markus just wanted to _endure_ and hope everything turned out alright, that the police would handle it on their own. But Markus was being proactive. If they worked alongside the police and Kamski, maybe they’d be able to find the hacker sooner than later. He had high hopes, for once. Nines seemed competent. He knew Connor was, and if Nines was anything like Connor, he would be a great help.

Nines listened to what Markus had to say, keeping eye contact as he spoke, until Markus’ gaze moved to Gavin. Nines’ followed, looking at Gavin questioningly. _Could_ they accept? He agreed that the hacking case needed to be their top priority. While the Red Ice 310 case was a threat to androids, it was less of an immediate threat. The hacker could do so much more damage in an instant, much more than the android kidnapper could. They needed to focus on the hacker’s case. What he wasn’t sure about was if they could make the case public or not. That was ultimately up to Captain Fowler, as far as Nines was aware. And as for the demand for no bail… That was out of their control. Nines agreed that the hacker shouldn’t be able to be released on bail, but that wasn’t their decision.

“Detective?” Nines asked, hoping for some input. “I do agree that this case needs to be made our priority, but… Can we make it public? Can we promise no bail?”

* * *

“I do know what you like. A surprise it is, then,” Connor sent through the line, sighing as he began to sort through his and Hank’s cases. Connor knew, from Hank’s tardiness alone and the events that had happened last night, that the lieutenant wouldn’t be in until well after noon. They’d only have time for one case, and he doubted they’d get it finished. A part of Connor envied Nines. He wished Hank had the same drive as Gavin did. A lot of Connor’s time was taken up simply _waiting_, and Gavin and Nines never seemed to have _enough_ time.

“I miss you. Which I shouldn’t, I only saw you a few hours ago, and I'll be seeing you tonight. But I miss you very much, Elijah. I crave your company,” Connor said, still silent at his desk as he sent the phone call mentally. His LED was the only tell as he otherwise kept himself _looking_ busy. Most of his attention was on Elijah. “You are deeply important to me. I wish I could comfort you in person.”

\------

Gavin’s teeth were grit, and he didn’t look happy at all. Tense and drawn out, his expression didn’t bode well.

“The only one I can guarantee is the first one. It’s the only one I have control over. We can make it our top priority, but that’s it.” Gavin said, his teeth gritting harder as Markus leveled him with a _supremely_ unhappy look. “Publicity is up to Fowler. I’m happy to drag it through the press for you but I can’t start any shit without Fowler giving the green light. I’ll get sacked if I do it behind his back,” Gavin explained, scratching the side of his face. “And the bail thing is out of the DPD’s control. All we can do is not offer it, but we can’t control what his lawyers cook up. We don’t control what the court decides, we just give the evidence But I've seen Eli’s lawyers curb-stomp someone for knocking on his door. Even with bail this fucker’s getting life in prison.”

Gavin then turned to Simon, and pinned him with a frown.

“You wanna submit an attempted manslaughter charge? It’ll be one more strike on his name and you might get cash as compensation,” Gavin said, tapping the screen and bringing up the form, knowing Simon could fill it in within moments. “You’re the public darling at the moment, Simon. It should get you sympathy in the jury.”

* * *

“I miss you too. I always do, but now more than ever,” Elijah admitted. He’d completely abandoned his work, aside from sending an email to one of the employees working in the warehouse, requesting the parts to be sent to his office. He needed to get his mind off of the hacker. From what he’d looked through so far, there was no trace of him in the code. He hadn’t been able to locate the string of text that initiated the reset. He _knew_ it was there, but he couldn’t find it. Connor would have better luck. Any android would. But he didn’t have any available to ask, and there was no way he was sending the code out to anyone to read over. He didn’t trust the CyberLife servers with any valuable information. Not while the hacker was there.

“I plan on converting the parts for Nines and assuming no one comes forward with information, I should be home shortly after you get off,” Elijah said with a sigh. “Then you can comfort me in person.” No one had come forward yet, and if millions of dollars being dangled in their faces wasn’t enough incentive to fess up, he wasn’t sure what was. Telling everyone they were fired might get the ball rolling, but then he’d blow his chances at finding the hacker himself. He needed to keep everyone on board until they found the hacker. Then everyone was fired. He _knew_ someone knew something. Someone out there knew who the hacker was and was choosing not to tell him. Why, he didn’t know nor did he really care. He just wanted to find the person responsible and get justice for everyone.

“How are you holding up? Are you okay?” he asked, redirecting the conversation to him. He wanted to know how Connor’s morning had gone. He knew Nines was there, if he was talking to him. “You talked to Nines. How did that go?”

\------

Nines suspected as much. He took it upon himself to write up a very formal and professional request, detailing Markus’ demands, and asking for permission to accept before sending the message to Captain Fowler via email. They needed his approval, and Markus needed an answer sooner than later.

Hearing that the hacker was going to get life in prison, or at least Gavin thought so, was a relief, even if Markus’ demands couldn’t be met. Simon shifted in his seat slightly when Gavin’s attention turned to him. He was surprised. He hadn’t expected to be brought into it at all. He’d only come along to support Markus, he had no intention of getting involved.

He hadn’t even considering filing a charge of his own. If _he_ could, North could too. Not to mention the countless families back at Jericho who had lost their loved ones. They could all submit reports for their now-deceased partners. Simon looked to Markus, curious if the thought occurred to him too.

“Markus, this could help us. North can submit a charge too, along with everyone back home that lost someone. It would give us a stronger case, wouldn’t it?” he asked, looking between Markus and Gavin. He reached out with his free hand to interface with the tablet, filling out the form Gavin had pulled up for him. Once it was filled out, he withdrew his hand, letting it return to resting in his lap. “We’re going to need a lot of those forms.”

* * *

Connor smiled again, having abandoned his work much like Elijah had.

“If you aren’t ready by the time my shift ends, I’ll come to you at CyberLife. I did promise to help, and I'll no doubt speed up your workflow.”

Connor didn’t want to wait in the apartment for Elijah to come home, he just wanted to be with him. Elijah was breathtakingly intelligent, but he wasn’t an android. And as Elijah had said more than once before, androids were superior.

He sighed when asked about his morning, and it could be heard both at his desk and through the line.

“It went well. I witnessed Nines smile for the first time, and we’ve reconnected, but our relationship isn’t as it used to be. It will take time,” Connor reported, his tone a touch frustrated. “I was also reprimanded by Captain Fowler. I was given a second warning, and I've been grounded. I’m only permitted to leave the precinct for case investigations. I’m not permitted to help with the hacking case in any way. If I receive a third warning, I'll be let go.” There was a pause after he finished, and Connor’s LED cycled yellow at his desk. “I’m angry about it. And Hank isn’t here, yet, so I cannot start my work properly. I’m having a bad morning.”

\------

Markus had come to the Detroit police to issue demands and file a report. It hadn’t once occurred to him that if _all of them_ filed a report, the outcome would be stronger. Excitement grew in Markus’ chest, and he nodded at Simon’s words.

“It’s a fantastic idea,” Markus agreed, and he once again looked back to Nines. “If you send me the form, I can give it to everyone once we return to Jericho.”

Gavin let Nines do as he was asked, and brought up his DPD profile in the meantime. It had his name, his rank, and his contact information, as well as his badge number and ID. But it was the email he wanted Markus to have.

“Send them to me, and we’ll process everything,” Gavin said, his eyes shifting to the corner of the screen when a memo popped up from Fowler, asking to see him. “S’cuse me.”

Markus crossed one leg over his knee as Gavin left the room, his gaze following him, and then flicking back to Nines.

“We only found out about you this morning. There is always a place for you at Jericho. You will _always_ be welcome with us. Do you have a permanent place to stay?” Markus asked with a frown. Leaning over, he touched the tablet and brought up a map, zeroing it down onto the location of their apartments. “Jericho isn’t as hard to find anymore, but it’s not advertised, either. Be it tonight, or when you’re ready, you will always belong and be welcome with your people, Nines. Even if you’d just like to visit.”

Gavin could be seen through the glass, talking to Fowler with a frown and with argumentative body language. He had one hand in his thirium-stained jacket pocket, and the other was gesturing as he spoke. Every so often he pointed at the meeting room, his focus intense and zeroed in on Fowler.

But he still walked with a bit of a limp and some stiffness, and Markus quietly watched him, trying to figure out why. And when he did, he abruptly looked away, politely looking elsewhere as Gavin re-entered the room.

“Detective, are you aware that your jacket is soaked in blue blood?” Markus politely pointed out. Gavin gave a grunt, and looked down at himself.

“Yeah, Nines pointed it out this morning. It’s his blood from yesterday,” Gavin said, ginger as he eased back down into his chair. “Alright, Fowler’s given the green light for publicity, but no dice on the third demand. We just can’t control the lawyers, it’s out of our hands. But, your first two demands are approved,” Gavin said, picking up a pen from the drawer he’d taken the tablet from and beginning to fiddle with it. “If you’ve got some time, we can have reception alert the press you’re here. Just a warning, though, it’ll be a paparazzi scrub and you run the risk of getting followed home. If you think you can outrun the paps you’re dreaming, so just keep it in mind. The press is gonna have a field day with this, so choose what you say carefully and brace yourself for getting lied about and misreported. They’re not here for facts, they’re here to sell papers,” Gavin looked at Simon again, raising his eyebrows, “If your eyesight fucks up and you have a meltdown again, the paparazzi will not be as kind. They’ll yell questions at you and shove a camera in your face even if you’re dying. And if you snap at them for it? Say goodbye to friendly articles. So brace yourself for a shit few months. There’s a reason we gotta get the OK for publicity. You won’t get a moment’s peace until it’s over.”

* * *

Elijah considered it for a moment. Maybe having Connor stop by would be a good thing. He could have him look over the code and see if he could find anything. It would speed things along, and it might lead them to the hacker. “I’ll let you know if I’m still here when you get off,” he said. He knew he’d have to wait for Nines to stop by to pick up the part, but he could just stop by the apartment, really. There was no real need for him to come by CyberLife. Elijah had only been there for a couple of hours and he was sick of it. He wasn’t making any progress, and all he wanted was some sleep.

Hearing that Connor and Nines’ relationship was good news. Even if it was going to take time for things to go back to the way they were, knowing that they were on good terms again was a relief. And Nines _smiled_? Elijah suspected they had Gavin to think for that.

“I’m sorry you’ve had a rough morning,” Elijah said with a frown. He hoped Connor didn’t wind up getting fired. He wasn’t sure how Connor would react, or what he’d do afterward. He suspected Connor would react in a similar way to how Elijah himself had when he’d been ousted from CyberLife over ten years ago. When you take work away from a workaholic, they’re lost. He hoped Connor would be able to keep his job. He was too valuable to the DPD. It wouldn’t be wise of them to fire him.

\------

Nines gave a nod and forwarded a copy of the file to both Markus and Simon. If they could get reports from all of the androids affected by the hack, they would have a very strong case in court. It should be easy, once they find the hacker himself. Finding him was the hard part. But once they did, the court case would be all that remained, and it seemed pretty obvious that he would be going away for a long, long time.

He watched Gavin leave, his gaze following him to Fowler's office. He must have read the email, then. Nines' attention turned back to Markus when he heard him speak again.

"No. I stay here, once Detective Reed goes home," he replied. He _had_ just spent the night at Gavin's and likely was again that night, but that wasn't _his_ home. Gavin was inviting him to stay overnight, not live there. He lived at the precinct. It was beneficial to have him available at all times, especially at night when most of their staff are at home, sleeping. It was a nice offer though, knowing that if he ever _did_ want to have a place to call home, he had an option. He flagged the location in his own GPS system, marking it to locate later, if he had to. Knowing the location might help with the Red Ice 310 case too, really. They hadn't had the location before now, and he planned on checking back to see if any of the disappearances happened near Jericho, once Markus and Simon left.

"Thank you," Nines said, offering a small smile. "I'll consider it." He was happy enough with the way things were. It was useful, being at the precinct already, and not having to rely on public transportation to get him from Jericho to the precinct on time. He didn't think he wanted to change that.

Nines looked over in time to see Gavin returning. He'd been doing his best to avoid looking at the jacket all day. He planned on washing it for him later. Gavin couldn't see the stains, he wouldn't be able to get them out himself. He would probably get bitched at for it, but he was going to help, whether Gavin wanted it or not.

Hearing that they were allowed to approve their demands was a relief for both Simon and Nines. Nines was glad, they needed his approval to let the case go public and if he hadn't granted it, they had less of a chance of finding the hacker. If they made it public, if they detailed how much trouble he really was in, _maybe_ it would scare him out of hiding.

Simon was relieved, although Gavin's words that followed made him hesitant. He looked to Markus, giving his hand a gentle squeeze under the table. He didn't want the press following them home. Jericho was their sanctuary, much like the last, and he didn't want humans invading it. _But_ the press _would_ see all of the machines on the lawn. It could help their cause, if the public could see how badly they were hit. But then again, having the press hounding them for months wasn't something he wanted. They needed it, though. They needed the publicity. Losing their privacy was something he'd have to get over.

"What do you think, Markus? If the press could see the damage… That could help us too. But I don't want them harassing us, or anyone else in the building. Not everyone likes humans, some are afraid. I don't know if it's a good idea. We _need_ the publicity, but…"

* * *

Markus rubbed his temple, and then pinched his nose, breathing a heavy sigh. As always, nothing had an easy conclusion.

“This isn’t just our decision anymore,” Markus said. “The people of Jericho will all be affected by this. Their privacy and their peace, their solitude, will be taken away. So we’ll vote. And if my people decide no, we’ll think of a different way.”

With that, Markus stood with a note of finality. He reached out to shake Nines’ hand, and then Gavin’s, and the effort it took not to take Simon’s hand in his afterward was enormous.

“I’ll be in touch once my people decide. Thank you for your help, Nines, Detective…”

As soon as they left, Gavin’s posture crumpled, and an _enormous_, shit-eating grin spread across his face. Gavin _punched_ Nines’ bicep, and excitedly roughed him up, pushing Nines’ hair into his face.

“We have _Markus’ case_,” Gavin almost yelled, his nose scrunched with the severity of his smile. “This thing is gonna blow up, it’s probably going to have laws passed after it, and might go down _in fucking history_, Nines. Holy shit,” he buzzed, elated.

For the rest of the day, Gavin was in an _annoyingly_ good mood. He was cocky and smug, and unafraid to show it. They had a mountain of work and Gavin loved it, finally feeling as though he was getting somewhere and moving forwards. And when they were out of precinct for lunch, Gavin’s discreet looks became obvious and lewd. He asked Nines suggestive questions, undressed him with his eyes, and responded to any retaliation with a challenge; _what are you gonna do about it_?

If he didn’t get his promotion by the end of these cases he might as well hang up his badge. He was confident for the first time in _years_ that he’d be getting one.

He had a promotion on the horizon, he’d found a friend with benefits who fucked him just the way he liked, and he was accomplishing things at work again instead of just sludging through cases. He loved it. He was happy. And if this was an indicator for the new year, 2039 was looking good.

Gavin worked overtime without meaning to, but it wouldn’t be the first time. He only looked up when prompted, and spent an extra fifteen minutes finishing up. His good mood had lasted all day, and Gavin shoved his hands into his pockets as he got up. He waited until they were out of the Bullpen and in the empty reception before looking up at Nines.

“You still cooking me dinner, Fabio?”

* * *

Voting sounded like their best course of action. Majority wins. There had to be a way to make it safe for their people while also making the case public. Maybe if it was announced after they left, or maybe they could find somewhere else for their people to stay in the meantime, where the press wouldn’t find them. There had to be some solution. If it would help their cause, it should be done, but it needed to be handled safely.

When it seemed Markus was ready to go, Simon let go of his hand before standing. He shook Nines’ and Gavin’s hands once Markus had, and followed Markus out. He was often pessimistic about things when it came to their success. For so long, they’d failed to do anything progressive, but now, things were different. Markus gave everyone hope, including Simon. Things would turn out okay.

Nines watched them leave, his attention being pulled back to Gavin when he was punched in the arm. He looked to him, confused for just a second, before he took in the look on Gavin’s face. He didn’t stop him from roughing him up, although the look of unamusement when his hair was pulled into his face was very evident. It didn’t last though. Gavin’s excitement made it hard for Nines _not_ to smile. This case was huge, especially if Gavin thought it might go down in history. It was a big deal, and seeing Gavin so _happy_ was nice.

Gavin’s good mood was a nice change, even if he was being a little annoyingly smug. He liked happy Gavin. He was pleasant to work with. The rest of the morning went smoothly, working through reports as they were gradually sent in from Jericho. When lunchtime came around, Nines expected Gavin’s good mood to continue. What he didn’t expect were the looks Gavin was giving him, or the questions. He retaliated with his own equally suggestive answers, or snarky remarks. He wasn’t going to back down from a challenge, but he held off, for now. Once he had the part, he’d _show_ him what he was going to do about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it stops at a weird place! Either I ended this chapter here, or it went on for about 50 more pages' worth, so I figured here is the best place to cut it. I'm sorry this one took so long to get up! Chapter Four will hopefully not take so long. c:


	5. HIATUS NOTICE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are alive!

Hey everyone! Cadi here. Sorry this isn't an _actual_ chapter!

I just wanted to let you guys know that we haven't forgot about this! I've had some problems with my wrist and hand, and I've since been diagnosed with tendonitis in my wrist. Doc gave me a cortisone shot and a brace to wear for a couple weeks. I'm hoping to get better soon, and when I do, I can update this! I have all the chapters for AOM sectioned out, I just have to finish editing them and uploading, but with one functional hand, it's kind of difficult. It's particularly difficult when the hand I use to scroll and primarily edit the chapters is the one that's broken. xD It's problematic.

I hope to be back soon, thank you so much for your patience!

We plan to upload more of our roleplays in the future, so be on the look out for those. c:


End file.
